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Printing History: Before Gutenberg

The earliest dated printed book, known as the Diamond Sutra, was produced in China in 868 CE, but it is believed that the practice dates back well before this date. The Japanese and the Chinese regularly used wood blocks carved in relief to produce Buddhist charms as early as the fifth century CE. As with many other technologies, the oriental cultures of the Far East were well ahead of Western Civilization in the realm of printing and paper-making.

Nearly six centuries later Europeans began block printing--whether or not this was influenced by examples from the orient or an independent development is not certain--for religious illustrations and playing cards. By the mid-fifteenth century the practice had expanded to include works such as Emblem Books.

Block-printed publications were largely made up of illustrations with short captions and therefore suitable to the wood block process which tended to favour the pictorial. The literate classes depended largely on hand-copied manuscripts. Works such as bibles and scientific texts were still painstakingly reproduced by monks and clerics at a great expense of time and labor. As the thirst for knowledge grew amongst the common classes, the scene was set for a revolution in printing.