When and how was the first book printed in Europe?

Johannes Gutenberg printed the first known dated book in Strasburg 1945, in which was produced by printing press, a revolutionary invention by Gutenberg. Gutenberg being a goldsmith developed a printing system which was based on the existing hand screw press, he created individual letters that could be moved and put into lines to create sentences. The printing press was devised of ink being rolled onto a surface, which can then be pressed onto a print medium such as paper and so transferring ink. He used this process to print his forty two line Bible, which was published in 1455, known as the Gutenberg Bible and approximately 180 copies were printed mainly on paper.
His revolutionary invention of printing changed the production of literature, not only did he create a larger means of literature production therefore gaining a bigger audience, but he also made the process cheaper.  The large quantities was a key element in profitability of printing and so led to the first mass production of books, where the printing press could print around 3600 pages per day in comparison to the 40 pages by the typographic hand printing method.
William Caxton learnt the process of printing due to his ‘pen became worn, his hand weary, his eye dimmed’, this led him to produce the first printed book in English (The Game and Playe of the Chesse). Caxton set up a press in London where he introduced the art of printing in England and in 1477 on the 18^th of November; the first dated published book was printed (Dictes and Sayenges of the Phylosophers). ^[1]

[1] Ward's Book of Days, Pages of interesting anniversaries.

     [ http://www.wardsbookofdays.com/18november.htm ], [accessed - 16//11/11]