The Printing Revolution.

Gutenberg and the Printing Revolution: How One Innovation Changed the World

Johannes Gutenberg is widely regarded as the inventor of the printing press; however, he was neither the first to invent the printing press nor movable type. Both technologies had been in use in Asia for a thousand years before Gutenberg’s print revolution (Oswald, 1928, p. 333; Houston, 2016, p. 178). What was revolutionary about Gutenberg’s process was his ability to produce uniform editions by editing and sub-editing using movable type during the proofreading stage. Gutenberg and his contemporaries made it possible, for the first time, to place large numbers of identical copies of books on the market (Kilgour, 1998, p. 82). This increased the number of books available and reduced the time between issues. Technology thus enabled the mass production of literature, fulfilling a demand for cheaper books through innovation.

Clearly, Gutenberg’s innovation addressed an existing “general want” in the market, as Steinberg (2017, p. 26) notes. He was the first to enable large-scale production of literature for a ready and willing audience. The production of handwritten manuscripts was already a recognised and lucrative trade (Steinberg, 2017). Before the invention of the printing press, creating books was a laborious process involving manual copying by monks or scribes. The limited number of manuscripts produced meant they were expensive and only accessible to a small elite. With Gutenberg’s printing press, created around 1440 in Mainz, a technological revolution began. According to UNESCO, Gutenberg’s advancements in printing technology transformed knowledge dissemination (UNESCO, n.d.).

Books printed between 1450 and 1480 closely resembled handmade manuscripts, using similar scripts and omitting title pages, page numbers, tables of contents, and indexes (Steinberg, 2017, p. 25). Publishers hired specialists to insert coloured initials and illustrations, mimicking handmade books. This was not an act of deception but a response to consumer conservatism and adherence to convention. A printed book radically different from handmade manuscripts would not have sold. Early printer-publishers, as businessmen, adhered to market demands, making incremental changes to the book’s format as both technology and consumer needs evolved.

Before the printing press, handwritten manuscripts took months to produce, increasing the likelihood of errors. Printing minimised errors, leading to more trusted information. This facilitated the creation of reference materials such as dictionaries. During the hand press period, it became unacceptable to tolerate errors in text. Errata slips with corrections were introduced, reflecting consumer expectations for accuracy. This marked a shift in both the physical production of books and consumer perceptions of their contents.

Another key technological advancement was the reduction in book size, making books more portable and easier to store. Earlier, hand-produced manuscripts were often large and prestigious, resembling works of art rather than practical reading material. For instance, the 13th-century Codex Gigas, produced in Prague, weighed 75 kilograms and required two men to lift it (Fig. 1). Smaller type sizes and improved printing techniques allowed for the production of smaller books, divided into folios, quartos, and octavos (Twyman, 1998, p. 34). Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible, printed in folio format, was designed to mimic the grandeur of handwritten texts, but half of all books produced before 1500 were quartos, reflecting the luxury status of early printed books.

Fig. 1: Photograph of the Codex Gigas, the largest medieval manuscript ever made (2005). Prague Post Blog. Accessed 20/03/23.

The first complete title page, including author, place, publisher, and date, was printed in Venice in 1476 by the German printer Ernhard Ratdolt for the Calendarium (Fig. 2) (Kilgour, 1998, p. 94). However, it was not until the 1530s that title pages became standard. Few books before 1500 had pagination, but the adoption of Arabic numerals facilitated citation and indexing (Kilgour, 1998).

Fig. 2: Title page from the Calendarium (1476) by Ernhard Ratdolt. Accessed 18/03/23.

Illustrations were another innovation of the period. Albrecht Pfister was the first printer to use woodblocks for printing images, including 101 in his 1461 edition of Ulrich Boner’s Edelstein. This technique paved the way for art and science books, with notable examples such as Dürer’s Apocalypse prints in 1498 (Fig. 3). Woodcuts were cheaper and more durable than copperplate engravings, making them well-suited to book production (Kurlansky, 2016, p. 125).

Fig. 3: Woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1498). Accessed 18/03/23.

Initially, books were finished by hand, with coloured initials, illustrations, and paragraphs added at the owner’s request. By the 1480s, printed components began to replace hand-finishing, driven by economic considerations (Dondi, 2013). The increasing press runs and reduction in costs allowed books to diversify beyond religious works, expanding into textbooks, science, and law. This diversification contributed to the dissemination of knowledge and rising literacy rates.

Religious works dominated early printing, but the affordability of printed books fostered an exchange of ideas and the growth of an urban middle class (Dittmar, 2011, p. 1137). Printing spread literacy among merchants, artisans, and professionals, transforming the printer-publisher into a hub for intellectual exchange. As books became more accessible, vernacular printing replaced Latin, codifying languages and expanding vocabularies (Steinberg, 2017). By 1700, less than 40% of books in Hamburg were printed in Latin, compared to three-quarters before 1500.

To conclude, Gutenberg’s achievement lies not in inventing printing or books but in synthesising existing technologies to create a transformative system. The printing press democratised books, making them more accessible and affordable. This mass production preserved knowledge, reduced errors, and diversified content. Technological advancements in printing led to profound societal changes, fostering literacy and the exchange of ideas that propelled Europe into a modern, literate, and mobile society. The hand press period represents a pivotal moment in the history of the book, shaping its development as a tool for knowledge dissemination and cultural transformation.

Figures

Fig. 1. Photograph of the Codex Gigas (2005). Prague Post Blog. Available at: https://www.praguepost.com/culture/codex-gigas. Accessed 20 March 2023.

Fig. 2. Title page of the Calendarium (1476), printed by Ernhard Ratdolt in Venice. Available at: https://www.meisterdrucke.ie/fine-art-prints/Unbekannt/775366/Title-page-of-Kalendarium-by-Regiomontanus,-1476,-1893.html. Accessed 18 March 2023.

Fig. 3. Woodcut by Albrecht Dürer (1498), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Available at: https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/5447. Accessed 18 March 2023.

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