The Gutenberg Revolution
Author | : John Man |
Publisher | : Random House |
Total Pages | : 306 |
Release | : 2010-10-31 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781409045526 |
ISBN-13 | : 1409045528 |
Rating | : 4/5 (26 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: In 1450, all Europe's books were handcopied and amounted to only a few thousand. By 1500 they were printed, and numbered in their millions. The invention of one man - Johann Gutenberg - had caused a revolution. Printing by movable type was a discovery waiting to happen. Born in 1400 in Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg struggled against a background of plague and religious upheaval to bring his remarkable invention to light. His story is full of paradox: his ambition was to reunite all Christendom, but his invention shattered it; he aimed to make a fortune, but was cruelly denied the fruits of his life's work. Yet history remembers him as a visionary; his discovery marks the beginning of the modern world.