The Art of the book. China: new discoveries of ancient treasures
The Art of the book. China: new discoveries of ancient treasures
In the development of the art of bookmaking in the modern format, a text printed with black ink on white paper, the Chinese have probably contributed the most.
It is generally known that paper was invented in China around the beginning of the Christian era, and spread all over the world before the modern age. Wood-block printing was first used by the Chinese in the seventh or eighth century and movable type some four hundred years earlier than Gutenberg. Even the use of the indelible ink of lampblack, which has been manufactured under the misnomer "Indian ink", can be traced back to antiquity in Chinese civilization.
It was the introduction of these vehicles that made possible the production of multiple copies of a modern paged book for wide circulation.