CultureEurope
The century of the book
Eight million books in fifty years, in a world that had few
See it on the timeline →In depth
Printing made the Reformation possible: Luther's theses spread across Germany in weeks. But it spread the manuals of witch-hunting just as efficiently, and the best-selling books were not science but indulgences, almanacs and prophecies. The technology amplified whatever already existed — an observation that has held for every new medium since.
For children
Fifty years after Gutenberg there were more printed books in Europe than all the handwritten ones made in the previous thousand years. Prices fell so far that ordinary people could own a book — and read it themselves.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org