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Although nothing concrete is known about Gutenberg's
education, as the son of a patrician, he in all probability must have
at least attended a Latin school. Excellent proficiency in Latin was imperative
to inventing such an epoch-making device, respectively, to being able
to tackle such an ambitious undertaking as printing the Latin Vulgate
Bible. After completing the Latin school, many sons of patricians went
on to study at the university in Erfurt. This could also hold true for
Gutenberg: in 1418/1419 a certain Johannes de Alta villa (Eltville) was
immatriculated at the University of Erfurt.
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In 1428 Gutenberg left Mainz
once again. This time the city was on the verge of bankruptcy and the guilds
took over. It is certain that from 16 January 1430 on, Gutenberg no longer
resided in Mainz. Gutenberg's name doesn't appear in documents in Strassburg
until 1434. There he tutored a citizen of Strassburg in "the polishing and
grinding of precious stones" an indication that he was a master goldsmith.
He also participated in an enterprise which manufactured pilgrim's mirrors
for a pilgrimage to Aachen to 1440. Pilgrims hoped to catch some of the
blessed light from the relics with these salvation mirrors and thus catch
the power of the relics and take this home with them. Manufacturing these
popular mirrors which were made of a lead-tin alloy definitely required
knowledge of casting - thus providing an initial opportunity for Gutenberg
to hone the skills he would require for his future enterprise. |
Goldsmith, woodcut by J. Amman, 1568 (detail)
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