Spread of Printing in Europe (1460s)

Timeline

1. 1461–1464Strasbourg and Cologne · RhinelandAround 1460, former Mainz craftsmen and apprentices opened printing shops in Strasbourg (such as Mentelin) and Cologne, using Gothic-type movable letters and woodcut illustrations to print Latin classics, prayer books, and university textbooks, forming the first wave of printing networks spreading along the Rhine.
2. 1465–1467Subiaco and Rome · LazioIn 1465 Sweynheym and Pannartz set up Italy's earliest printing shop near the Subiaco monastery, moving to Rome in 1467 under papal patronage and printing Latin classics in early Roman-type movable letters. Printing thus entered the center of humanist scholarship, competing alongside the manuscript tradition.
3. 1468–1470Mainz · MainzJohannes Gutenberg, inventor of movable-type printing, died in Mainz on February 3, 1468. By around 1470, dozens of printing shops had appeared in Germany, Italy, France, and the Low Countries, and the combination of movable type, ink, and press techniques was becoming standardized, laying the foundation for the explosive growth of the European printing industry by the end of the 15th century.