ABSTRACT
Printing from movable types was invented in China, preceding the European invention by four centuries. The employment of wood-blocks for printing in the Far East was even more in advance of its European use. The frequent suggestion which sees in the Renaissance a source of inspiration for the introduction of printing from movable type into Europe is largely discounted. The problem was to produce a printing surface which could be used again and again, and which could be built up without the labour of cutting out the letters every time. The important influence exercised on English printing by Pickering and Whittingham’s revival of Caslon’s old-face roman fount will be touched on later, as will the movement in fine printing in this and other countries headed by William Morris, and some important figures in Continental printing. Printing appeared sporadically in various English provincial towns in the first half of the sixteenth century, but nowhere for long or to very much effect.
