<P> The printing press with movable type was invented in East Asia , for a complex writing system , circa 1234 . The production of sorts ( individual letters of type ) was slow . Two centuries later , around 1440 , the printing press was introduced into the Holy Roman Empire by the German Johannes Gutenberg , based on existing screw presses . Gutenberg , a goldsmith by profession , developed a printing system , by adapting existing technologies to printing purposes , as well as making inventions of his own . His newly devised hand mould made possible the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities . Movable type had been hitherto unknown in Europe . In Europe , the two inventions , the hand mould and the printing press , together drastically reduced the cost of printing books and other documents , particularly in short print runs . </P>
<P> The printing press with movable type was invented in East Asia , for a complex writing system , circa 1234 . The production of sorts ( individual letters of type ) was slow . Two centuries later , around 1440 , the printing press was introduced into the Holy Roman Empire by the German Johannes Gutenberg , based on existing screw presses . Gutenberg , a goldsmith by profession , developed a printing system , by adapting existing technologies to printing purposes , as well as making inventions of his own . His newly devised hand mould made possible the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities . Movable type had been hitherto unknown in Europe . In Europe , the two inventions , the hand mould and the printing press , together drastically reduced the cost of printing books and other documents , particularly in short print runs . </P>
when did the first printing press come out
when did the first printing press come out
1234
1234