Jeremy Norman’sHistoryofInformation.com Exploring the History of Information and Media through Timelines
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Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsHere we see the very long procession of members of the book production trades that wraps around on the right side of the lithograph. Note all the different banners with the emblems of the different trades.
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsPresumably the participants in this parade were mainly "masters" who owned or managed businesses; it is doubtful that ordinary workers would have owned such fine clothing, including top hats. Note the Gutenberg style press in the place of honor.
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsThe extent of the pageantry reflects the social position of printers and book production in German society at the time.
A: Stuttgart-Mitte, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsA simplified model of Gutenberg's wooden press on a wagon pulled by four horses is visible on the right.
Most of the imagery of the history of printing is necessarily of interior scenes, and it tends to be of a technical nature rather than of social events. Among the wide variety of European publications--143 by one count-- commemorating the 1840 Quatercentenary of Gutenberg's discovery of printing by movable type, that issued by the printers in Stuttgart stands out for its lithographs of the outdoor meeting and procession involving all the book production trades in the area. The publication was Das vierte Säenlarfest der Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst, begangen zu Stuttgart am 24. und 25. Juni 1840. This publication listed all the many participants, and therefore may serve as a partial directory of the book production trades in Stuttgart at the time. It also included poetry composed and read at the event.