Gutenberg the Sprezzaturist

“He who first shortened the labor of copyists by device of movable types was disbanding hired armies, and cashiering most kings and senates, and creating a whole new democratic world: he had invented the art of printing.” – Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus

In the spirit of sprezzatura, I submit that a quote discussing a major figure of the Renaissance, even if the quote comes from a novel published in 1836, is significant enough to be counted for the quote requirement. Plus, this quote, shared by Madison P during our groups on Monday, helped enlighten me to an aspect of the Renaissance that I previously hadn’t thought of before. As Petrarch said in his essay “To Homer,” “I am very eager for knowledge,” and the Carlyle quote provided me with some knowledge. 

The phrase, “the art of printing,” was very interesting to me. In my “salon” group, Joseph P. stately argued for sprezzatura being embedded in every Renaissance theme. I could accept that premise on all but one account. I couldn’t figure out how sprezzatura was embedded in moveable type. From Carlyle’s phrase, I could see that somehow sprezzatura (art) and moveable type (printing) were related, but how? 

The Crandall Museum's Gutenberg press

One answer came from looking back to a previous experience of mine; what an ad fontes idea. About a year ago, I visited a place called the Crandall Museum here in Provo. According to its website, it is the only museum in the world with a working Gutenberg press, complete with a full set of type made in the same manner that Gutenberg himself invented. While there, I learned that Gutenberg was very aware of the social circumstances of the time (the rhetorical situation) and how his invention might be viewed. Much like how some view e-books as an abomination from printed books, people viewed Gutenberg’s Bible as an abomination from the original hand-copied versions of the vulgate. To help counter some of those opinions, Gutenberg purposefully designed his typeface to mimic monk handwriting. He also hired artists to design the drop caps and ornament the books. Because of these choices, people were much more willing to change their mode of reading, although the transition was still difficult, like the transition to e-books is difficult for some today.

Often, the way that books are presented relate to how those books are received. In Gutenberg’s time, this correlated to color and beautiful décor; for us, this idea correlates to cover design and marketing campaigns.

In book publishing, I discovered that sprezzatura manifests itself in the presentation of the book. Gutenberg was a sprezzaturist because he projected confidence, beauty, and even disagreement with the establishment through his Gutenberg Bible. 

Are there other ways that sprezzatura relates to moveable type? I’m sure there are, and I’ll keep searching for that knowledge.