WonderArt reflection619 of 1,961

The Gutenberg Bible used movable type, but its prestige still belonged to the world of manuscripts. New media often begins by copying the old before discovering its own language.

Library of Congress

Why it matters

The idea in context

Early printed books were made to look like handwritten manuscripts, because prestige still lived in the old form. New media often imitates what came before until it discovers what only it can do — film first recorded stage plays; early websites mimicked paper pages.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Gutenberg İncili hareketli harf kullandı, ama prestiji hâlâ el yazmaları dünyasına aitti. Yeni medya çoğu zaman kendi dilini keşfetmeden önce eskisini kopyalayarak başlar.

Kongre Kütüphanesi

Erken basılı kitaplar el yazması kitaplara benzemek üzere yapılıyordu; çünkü prestij hâlâ eski biçimde yaşıyordu. Yeni medya, yalnızca kendisinin yapabileceği şeyi keşfedene kadar çoğu zaman kendinden önce geleni taklit eder — film önce sahne oyunlarını kaydetti; erken web siteleri kâğıt sayfaları taklit etti.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

S22 Library of Congress Gutenberg Bible

Background reading: Gutenberg BibleAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.

Open in the iPhone app Editorial method

Next in the open archiveVan Gogh's market story is more complex than the myth, but it still shows that value, recognition and timing are different things.Q0645

The Gutenberg Bible used movable type, but its prestige still belonged to the world of manuscripts. New media often begins by copying the old before discovering its own language.

The idea in context

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Read beyond the card.

Keep following this thread.

Smithsonian notes that Leonardo da Vinci, who was left-handed, used mirror writing in his notes and sketches, with the writing running in the opposite direction and letters reversed.

MIDI gave keyboards, drum machines and computers a shared musical language by sending instructions rather than recorded audio.

The footsteps, fabric rustles and tiny physical sounds in a film are often performed later by Foley artists.

Harry Beck's Tube map made London readable by treating the Underground less as geography and more as a diagram of connections.

When it was unveiled in 1886, the Statue of Liberty was the warm brown of new copper; the famous green is a patina that slowly formed as the metal reacted with the air over about thirty years.