The exhibition contains the old machines of the Bulaq Press, the first Egyptian press. Visitors can see, on display, a great number of the old printing presses and their accessories, such as character assembly machines, in addition to samples of printed material.
The Bulaq Press was established under the rule of Mohamed Ali in 1820, while the assembling of the machines began in 1821. The first publication by the Press was an Arabic-Italian dictionary issued in 1822. The significance of the Bulaq Press extends far beyond the mere machine: it was the beacon that guided Egypt out of the dark ages by providing a much needed source of knowledge in the form of printed books.
At the other end of the exhibition, we have the Print-on-Demand revolutionary new technology that will change the world of book publishing, the Espresso Book Machine, where the content of any book can be directly printed from any digital medium to paper without the need for conventional films or plates.