Printing history

The collection includes reconstructions of Johannes Gutenberg's wooden printing press and 19th-century iron hand presses, including knee-lever presses from Dingler (1834 and 1840), a Columbia press (circa 1824), and a Stanhope press, the first letterpress printing press made entirely of iron.

Casting, typesetting, and printing machines are also represented in the collection. These include a high-speed letterpress from the Klein & Forst machine factory (built in 1848) and two Linotypes, invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler.

Type specimens were sample and advertising materials from type foundries that provided information about their range of lead typefaces. The earliest samples date back to the 15th century. The Gutenberg Museum's collection includes hundreds of type specimens from German and European type foundries. They form the basis for the special exhibitions on typography, a new focus area created in 2010/11.

A collection of around 70,000 objects documents the diverse development of bookbinding using sample bindings from the late Middle Ages through the 15th and 16th centuries to the 19th century and the present day.

The paper department collects European and non-European paper samples as well as watermarks, colored papers, borders, wallpapers, and luxury papers.