The first printed books are called 'incunabula'. The texts were engraved in blocks of wood and printed onto paper. The system was developed in China from 770; it arrived in Europe in the 15th century.

The system of using separate letters to allow for the composition of texts was discovered between 1058 and 1061 by the Chinese Pi Sheng. He used letters made of dried earth. In Europe, the first printed book was prepared at Mayence in 1447. It is widely accepted that Gutenberg was the first to carry out printing in Europe. In fact, in various places, a practical procedure for printing was gradually being developed. People soon realized the usefulness of print and how it would speed communication. Certain historians claim that books would have already been printed in Holland before the 'Bible' which Guttenberg printed in 1455, but there is no definite proof. Whatever the facts, the quality of Gutenberg's books was without any doubt the best. At the beginning, printers tried to reproduce manuscript books quickly and cheaply. That is why the symbols at that time were made to imitate hand-written letters as much as possible. From 1500, the book took over from the manuscript and special printing symbols appeared.