For
roughly four centuries, with thousands of works compiled and millions of
letters used, the printing press developed by Gutenberg in the fifteenth
century remained the basic method of printing until the onset of the Industrial
Revolution. Thanks to this technological advance, information was made much
more accessible to a wide audience through printed material. Although many
people undoubtedly know about Gutenberg and his printing press, there is a much
smaller awareness regarding a key component of the process of printing, the ink
ball.
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| Ink balls (or dabbers) from the Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam |
Utilized
in Europe since the invention of the printing press, the ink ball has played a
significant role in the mass production of written material. Also known as an
inking ball or dabber, the tool was usually made of specially-treated sheepskin
with wool stuffing attached to a wooden handle. To use the ink ball, the inker (the
person who applied ink to the typeset) would apply ink onto the type so that a
smooth layer would be on the letters. It was essential that the type would be
coated consistently and uniformly at the proper thickness, otherwise the words
and images would not be printed accurately.
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| From Class: 16th century engraving of printmaking. Notice the man on the right with the two ink balls. |
This
method would remain mostly unchanged from the 1400s until the mid-1800s. Thus thanks
to this small hand tool, countless works were produced for widespread
audiences. Certainly some of these books, pamphlets, etc. with their condemning
words and even more condemning woodcut-illustrations would play a major role in
the spread of ideas and beliefs that would contribute to the witch-hunts of the
early modern era.
Sources
and for further reading see:
I always love the little trivial items that are forgotten. The ink ball and type setting are fascinating technologies that emerged in the birth of new age printing press. I am sure monks of the time waved a hand thinking it would be a passing trend, but alas!, it became the very tool used to spark information overload and spread of the good, the bad, and the ugly in mass quantities (in comparison of their own historical circumstances anyways). Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteReally nice link to class and the work we are doing with woodcuts. I may be mentioning ink balls in further classes so thanks for that contribution!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. We all know just how pivotal the printing press was to the spread of the witch-hunts and awareness but I think very few of us know how one works. Thanks to the development of the printing press and the inkball propaganda could be widespread.
ReplyDeleteCool post! I found this really interesting because I have worked in the printing manufacturing industry since I was a teenager. Its really neat for me to learn about the origin of printing and compare it to modern technology.
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