Did Gutenberg think about the consequences of his endeavor when he was looking for ways to make books quickly and replace the time-consuming and costly process of manuscripts? We will never know. 

This printing press, which dates back to 1976, is an exact replica of the one exhibited at the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, the German city where movable type printing was used for the first time around 1454 or 1455. There is also a twin replica that is exhibited at the Printing Museum located in the monastery in El Puig.

The initiative for the construction of both copies came from Ricardo Vincent Museros and the company Hartman S.A. In the year 2023, the current owner, the Association of the Senate of the Museum of Printing and Graphic Arts of Valencia, has chosen the MuVIM as the ideal permanent centre to exhibit and admire this reproduction of one of the greatest inventions in history.

The press is located in this Jerònima Galés Room, named in memory of the renowned sixteenth-century Valencian printer, next to a small bibliographic exhibition, highlighting the importance of all the trades involved in the world of printing.

The Gutenberg press is the main piece in the exhibition and its role is better understood if we add some of the creations that, over the centuries, have been made possible thanks to the existence of this invention. For this reason, the exhibition is complemented by a showcase dedicated to works from the collections of the MuVIM Library.

In order to preserve these books, we have decided to rotate them approximately every two months, with a programme presenting five different groups. All of these address aspects of the field of printing, the industry of typography, and graphic design.