Concerning the Beginning of Printing in 15th Century Strassburg

Abstract

On the occasion of the 550th year celebration of the invention of printing, the author has tried to find new arguments concerning time and place. Gutenberg could not have made his invention in Mainz in 1440, as is widely maintained, because he lived demonstrably in Strassburg from 1434 to 1444. Here, in 1439 there was a large lawsuit in whose records is noted that Gutenberg, as the head of a group, had worked on "aventur und kunst." This term was quite likely the cover-up designation for the first printing. Additional historic evidence and political relationships lead to the conviction that the first printing took place around 1440, that, however, the master brought the invention to perfection in the 42-line bible that he printed after his return to his birthplace, Mainz.