From the 15th century, the printer’s workshop was called officina, officina typographica, or typographeum, in German also Offizin or Buchdruckerey. The word officina was restricted to the larger workshops that worked with the Gutenberg system (letterpress printing). Apothecaries’ shops were also often called officinae.
Running an officina required business acumen, a taste for risk, and considerable resou…