John Man's Book on Gutenberg

In his mid-thirties and single, Johann Gutenberg was under the "self-chosen, creative stress of an artist." In 1433 he settled in Strasbourg, Germany to be near his family and begin his quest for success. "Gutenberg already had plans, for which he needed all the money he could lay his hands on."

Shortly after his mother's death, Gutenberg got financial backing in writing from one of the three Mainz burgomasters. This promised Gutenberg that the three men would be personally responsible for his annuity payments. Gutenberg was owed about 310 gulden or 31,000 pounds. Niklaus von Worrstadt made good on his promise to Gutenberg and delivered the cash about two months later. The funds were delivered via Gutenberg's cousin, Ort Gelthus, who lived in Oppenheim.

Gutenberg received the money around Pentecost and began his work by employing Lorenz Beildeck and his wife as servants. He rented a place about two miles up the River Ill next to the St. Arbogast monastery. Gutenberg kept a well-stocked wine cellar, which contained about 1,500 liters of wine.

He had a brief affair with a young woman named Ennelin zur Yserin Thure. She was keen to marry the up-and-coming entrepreneur but Gutenberg had no intentions of ruining his business plans.

In Aachen, Germany lies the capital of Charlemagne. In the 1432 pilgrimage 10,000 people a day thronged the cathedral close. As proof of their visit, the religious pilgrims bought little metal badges as a memento of their visit. Moreover, the word spread that a badge with a convex mirror "would absorb the healing radiance of the holy relics." Mirrors made of glass were known as "ox-eyes."

In 1432 the goldsmiths and stamp makers of Aachen could not make enough supply to meet the demand. Gutenberg developed a plan to mass-produce some 32,000 mirrors for the 1439 pilgrimage. He was looking to charge 50 pounds each. Costs for the project were 600 gulden with a return of 16,000 gulden or a % 2,500 profit margin.

Gutenberg acquired three partners in 1438: Hans Riffe, Andreas Dritzehn and Andreas Heilmann. Unfortunately, the men became enamored by the idea of "Gutenberg's treasure" and the venture fell apart. The treasure was the invention of printing with "moveable type." Printing with moveable type was not only an intellectual leap but also a technical application.

Gutenberg: How One Man Remade the World with Words
By John Man
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002
320 pp., ISBN 0471218235