The A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates De Vinne, Theodore Low 1828-1914 creator text utu 2016 monographic en 1 online resource : multiple file formats "The Invention of Printing" by Theodore Low De Vinne is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The book explores the origins and development of printing technology, focusing on key figures such as John Gutenberg and the controversies surrounding rival inventors in different regions, particularly Germany and the Netherlands. By detailing early prints, playing cards, block-books, and the mechanics of printing, it seeks to shed light on a significant moment in history that revolutionized the dissemination of knowledge. At the start of the book, De Vinne introduces the subject of printing as not only an essential mechanical art but also a topic shrouded in mystery and contention. He discusses the complexity surrounding the contrast between legends and actual historical records concerning early printing and the figures involved. The author acknowledges the vast number of existing books on the subject, yet critiques their often obscure language and tendency to overlook mechanical aspects of early printing. He emphasizes the need for a clearer, more concise description of early printing methods and the mechanics behind them, setting up the framework for a deeper exploration in the subsequent chapters. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Release date is 2016-01-25 E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, RichardW, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Original publication data not identified Printing -- History -- Origin and antecedents Incunabula -- Bibliography Z Original publication data not identified 01000463 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51034 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51034 UtSlPG 260607 20260610134156.0 51034