Destroction of Printing Presses in Mayencedetails

Destroction of Printing Presses in Mayence

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This woodcut (or engraving) was included in a section on the invention of the printing press, but the book did not mention the 1462 destruction of the presses. Mainz was sacked in 1462, but it is not clear that the printing presses were destroyed for any specific reason.

Mayence is the French name for Mainz, in Germany.

We see soldiers wearing helmets and carrying triangular shields, with flaming ttorches, and in the foreground someone, perhaps a young man, lies prone still clutching a book. A soldier stands on a wooden printing press in the background and holds pages over the flames by piercing them with his sword.

Also in the lower right foreground a pounce used for inking, although that is likely an anacronism, as i think other descrptions describe ink-soaked balls as being used.

printing, violence, soldiers, destruction, printing presses, death, murder, luddites

Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

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