ABSTRACT
Johann Gutenberg’s invention is as simple as it is ingenious: texts were broken down into their smallest components, i.e. into the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet, and from placing single letters in the right order the new text required would result time and again. Gutenberg chose for this the Vulflate of St Jerome, the definitive textual basis for all theological work and religious instruction during the Middle Ages. Gutenberg imitated the manuscript in all its aspects, so he adopted the division into columns, and the massed look of the text panel - which he was able to improve upon through typesetting - and that placing of the columns on the page which yielded ideal margin proportions. Fust alleged in 1455 that Gutenberg had not put the loans made to him exclusively into their joint “work of the books” but had also used them to finance other projects.
