Q 01/05

Which reformer's 1517 challenge to the Church did Gutenberg's invention spread through the German lands within weeks?

A) John Calvin

B) Huldrych Zwingli

C) Jan Hus

D) Martin Luther

Answer · why

D) Martin Luther

Martin Luther. He had raised his Ninety-five Theses as points for scholars to debate, but printers in Nuremberg, Leipzig and Basel reissued them, and ...

Q 02/05

Which metalworking craft is Gutenberg usually said to have practised before he turned to printing?

A) Goldsmithing

B) Blacksmithing

C) Bell founding

D) Armour making

Answer · why

A) Goldsmithing

Goldsmithing. He was attached to a goldsmiths' guild and taught gem polishing, and cutting steel punches to cast metal was exactly the skill that maki...

Q 03/05

The Gutenberg Bible is sometimes named after which French cardinal, in whose Paris library a copy was identified?

A) Richelieu

B) Fleury

C) De Retz

D) Mazarin

Answer · why

D) Mazarin

Mazarin. He had been dead a century: the copy in the library he founded was the first that bibliographers described, in a Paris bookseller's catalogue...

Q 04/05

What three metals made up Gutenberg's type-metal alloy?

A) Silver, tin and bismuth

B) Lead, tin and antimony

C) Lead, copper and gold

D) Iron, copper and zinc

Answer · why

B) Lead, tin and antimony

Lead, tin and antimony. The mix melts at a low heat and casts cleanly, while the tin and antimony make soft lead hard enough to survive thousands of p...

Q 05/05

What kind of ink did Gutenberg introduce for printing books?

A) Oil-based ink

B) Water-based ink

C) Wax-based ink

D) Egg-based ink

Answer · why

A) Oil-based ink

Oil-based ink. The watery ink that scribes used simply ran off metal type, so Gutenberg made something closer to a varnish, sticky enough to cling and...