| 2nd half of 4th century | The form of books shifted from scroll to codex. In Europe, Coptic binding came into use. |
|---|---|
| 2nd half of 7th century | Celtic manuscripts, The Book of Durrow and The Lindisfarne Gospels were produced. |
| End of 8th century | The Carolingian script started to be used. Around this time, raised band binding came into use. |
| 12th century | Paper was first brought to Europe. Around this time, Gothic type began to be used. |
| c.1455 | J. Gutenberg printed the 42-line Bible in Mainz. |
| c.1460 | J. Mentelin started printing in Strassburg. |
| c.1461 | The art of printing was brought to Bamberg. |
| c.1463 | Costeriana began to be printed in The Netherlands. |
| 1465 | C. Sweynheym and A. Pannartz used the first movable Roman type to print books in Subiaco. |
| c.1465 | Printing was brought to Cologne. |
| 1467 | Printing was brought to Rome and Eltville. |
| 1468 | Printing was brought to Augsburg. |
| c.1468 | Printing was brought to Basel. |
| 1469 | Printing was brought to Venice. |
| c.1469 | Printing was brought to Nuremberg. |
| 1470 | Printing was brought to Paris. |
| c.1470 | Printing was brought to Naples. |
| 1471 | Printing was brought to Ferrara, Bologna and Speyer. |
| c.1471 | Printing was brought to Milan and Florence. |
| 1472 | Printing was brought to Mantua. |
| 1473 | Printing was brought to Ulm, Lyons, Utrecht and Alost. |
| 1474 | Printing was brought to Vicenza and Louvain. |
| 1475 | Printing was brought to Barcelona and Saragossa. |
| 1476 | Printing was brought to England (Westminster). |
| 1477 | Printing was brought to Gouda and Deventer. |
| c.1477 | Printing was brought to Zwolle and Seville. |
| c.1480 | Printing was brought to Leipzig. |
| 1481 | Printing was brought to Antwerp and Salamanca. |
| c.1485 | Printing was brought to Rouen. |
| 1489 | Printing was brought to Lisbon. |
| 1501 | Italic type was first used. |
| 1537 | Francis I of France issued the Ordinance of Montpellier to ensure the deposit of books published in France. |
| 1640 | Germans celebrated the bicentennial of the invention of the art of printing. Mallincrodt's De ortu ac progressu artis typographicae was published. |
| 1688 | Beughem's Incunabula typographiae, the first catalog of incunabula, was published. |
| 1719 | Maittaire started to publish Annales typographici, the first catalog of incunabula in annals format (~1741) |
| 1722 | Orlandi's Origine e progressi della stampa, the first research book on incunabula, was published. |
| 1740 | In commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the invention of the art of printing, Marchand's Histoire de l'origine et des premiers progress d'imprimerie was published. |
| 1749 | Typographical antiquities, Ames's research book on the early history of printing in England, was published. |
| 1753 | The British Museum was established in Great Britain. |
| 1798 | Senefelder invented lithography in Germany. |
| 1826 | The first volume of Hain's Repertorium bibliographicum, in quo libri omnes ab arte typographica inventa ad annum MD, the first comprehensive catalog of incunabula, was published. Publication continued until 1838. |
| 1840 | Falkenstein's Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst in ihrer Entstehung und Ausbildung was published to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the invention of the art of printing. |
| 1891 | W. Morris established the Kelmscott Press. |
| 1898 | Proctor published the first volume of his An index to the early printed books in the British Museum: from the invention of printing to the year MD, an index to incunabula based on his type-classification method. Publication continued until 1906. |
| 1904 | The editorial committee for GW (Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, Union Catalog of Incunabula) was formed. |
| 1905 | The first volume of Haebler's complete guide to movable types, Typenrepertorium der Wiegendrucke, was issued. Publication continued until 1924. |
| 1907 | Publication of a collection of facsimiles of incunabula types (Veröffentlichungen der GfT) began, and continued until 1939. |
| 1920 | Schramm began publishing his Der Bilderschmuck der Fruhdrucke, a collection of woodcut illustrations from incunabula. Publication continued until 1943. |
| 1925 | Volume 1 of GW was issued (see 1904). |
| 1940 | Deutscher Buchdrucke im Jahrhundert Gutenbergs was published in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the invention of the art of printing. |
| 1980 | The British Library began the work of entering data in its online union catalogue of incunabula ISTC. |
"Incunabula: Dawn of Western Printing" is one of digital exhibitions of the National Diet Library.
The NDL Digital Exhibitions features the NDL’s unique collections with explanations covering various themes such as nishiki-e, landscape photographs and historical materials. Discover your favorites!
