The printing press itself is inanimate until someone locks up a chase full of type. Then, words and illustrations come alive. Newspapers grew from the printing press. Titans of the press had the power to topple presidents and prime ministers, spread truth and lies and bring news from the far reaches of the world. Before blogs or the Internet, there were editorials.
One must ponder whether it would have been possible for great scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein to develop modern-day mechanics or discover Quantum theory without the printing press. Would Doctors Banting and Best go on to discover the vaccine for diabetes if Banting had not read a book on the pancreas? Probably not. These incredible minds were able to build on printed knowledge, just as Tim Berners-Lee took us from the printed page to the next watershed moment - the World Wide Web.
Printing and the machines that produced it have been instrumental to our development as a people since Gutenberg’s invention of movable type in 1450. Bringing good and evil, breakthroughs and fallacy, the printing machine fostered an increasing awareness of ourselves and allowed every person on earth to develop knowledge and make a difference.
As neutral as the printing press can be, the ideas, cast in lead and reproducible repeatedly, led us to our present time. With this amazing machine, artists reached an audience instead of only a select few. The book itself owes its place in history because of the printing press.
Our current Collection features an impressive selection of Iron Presses, Cylinders, Platens and Bindery Equipment. In addition, our library also features a collection of vintage printing-related books and technical and trade journals.
The printing press is either the greatest blessing
or the greatest curse of modern times,
sometimes one forgets which it is.
The most powerful machine ever developed by man
was not the nuclear reactor nor the computer.
It was the Printing press, without which
neither would have seen the light of day.