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John
Man.
The Gutenberg Revolution: the story of a genius and an
invention
that changed the world.
London: Review, 2002.
viii,312pp.
Hardback.
Publisher's
recommended price £14.99
In 1450,
all Europe's
books were hand-copied and amounted to no more than a few thousand. By
1500 they were printed, and numbered in their millions. Printing made
possible
the development of modern science and literature, and the political
shift
from family fiefdoms to nation-states. It brought about the biggest
changes
in human culture since the invention of the alphabet itself.
Printing
with
movable type was an invention waiting to happen, and it was Johann
Gutenberg's
vision and drive that made it a reality. Through a combination of
technical
genius and the ability to attract wealthy backers, the Mainz-born
Gutenberg
produced a Bible of extravagant and legendary beauty using the
revolutionary
method that was to underpin and accelerate the rise of western culture.
Yet
Gutenberg's
story is full of paradox: his ambition was to reunite all Christendom,
but his invention was used to shatter it: he aimed to make a fortune,
but
was cruelly denied the fruits of his life's work.
Gutenberg
struggled
against a background of plague, religious upheaval and legal battles to
bring his remarkable invention to light, but once the secret of
printing
with movable type was revealed, the world was never the same again.
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