Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (c. 1398 – 3 February, 1468) was a German goldsmith and printer who is credited with being the first European to use movable type printing c. 1439 and the global inventor of the mechanical printing press. His major work, the Gutenberg Bible [gbs], is acclaimed for its high aesthetic and technical quality.Among the specific contributions to printing that are attributed to Gutenberg are the invention of a process for mass-producing movable type, the use of oil-based ink, and the use of a wooden printing press similar to the screw olive and wine presses of the period. His truly epochal invention was the combination of these elements into a practical system. Gutenberg may have been familiar with printing; it is claimed that he had worked on copper engravings with an artist known as the Master of the Playing Cards. Gutenberg's method for making type is traditionally considered to have included a type metal alloy and a hand mould for casting type.
