Gutenmorg

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  • guten morgen: (German) good morning
  • Johann Gutenberg: Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (born circa 1398 – presumed to have died 3 February 1468 in Mainz) was a German metal-worker and inventor who achieved fame for his contributions to the technology of printing during 1448, including a type metal alloy and oil-based inks, a mould for casting type accurately, and a new kind of printing press based on presses used in wine-making. Tradition credits him with inventing movable type in Europe -- an improvement on the block printing already in use there. By combining these elements into a production system, he allowed for the rapid printing of written materials, and an information explosion in Renaissance Europe


Commentary

Good morning is often the first thing spoken in the day. Here the German|Gutenberg conflation suggests the birth of modern printing.

In 1455, Gutenberg demonstrated the power of the printing press by selling copies of a two-volume Bible (Biblia Sacra) for 300 florins each. This was the equivalent of approximately three years' wages for an average clerk, but it was significantly cheaper than a handwritten Bible that could take a single monk 20 years to transcribe.