As I was trying to answer the blog prompt I went on youtube to refresh my memory on the different types of printing we learned about. Upon searching “hand press printing” I discovered this video of the oldest hand press. To me it was curious how different it looked from the one we saw at the printing station. It is much simpler but I am sure was much less efficient and accurate. It also appears much heavier and I can only imagine the strength it took to work one of these. This printing press most definitely took both longer to use and wasn’t as accurate. The heaviness and function that is like a huge stamp simply didn’t allow for precision. Because it took longer to use it would be impossible to create a lot of copies which would hinder the spread of publishings and would not allow for many books to be sold.
Now there are electronic presses that allow for many books to be printed per hour. The precision of lettering has also increased thanks to new technology. It is interesting to see where printing came from and how far it has come.
Yea that press was alot different than either press we saw at the print making institute. that huge plate looked extremely heavy and looked like it would be ideal for difficult engraving and printing on dense material.
After watching that video, I would never want to have to print with that machine. The plate looked very heavy and it makes me extremely impressed with anyone who did that for a living because it must have been incredible difficult.
It still surprises me to think that, not only was that used to print paper, but entire books were made with that. And judging by its look (despite looking aged) it doesn’t seem to be something that would be fun to work with, nor easy to handle. To think we have it so easy today.