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In bold: key vocabulary. Tap any word in the text to see its definition.
Imagine a world in which every book has to be copied by hand. Before the 1450s, this was the reality in Europe. A single book could take months or even years to finish, because scribes, often monks in monasteries, had to copy every page letter by letter. Books were rare and expensive, and most people never owned one.
Around 1450, a goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg set up a workshop in the German city of Mainz. He did not invent printing, which already existed in other parts of the world, but he developed a system of movable metal letters that could be reused. Letters were cast in metal, arranged into words and lines, inked, and pressed onto paper. When the job was done, the letters could be rearranged for the next page.
Between 1452 and 1455, Gutenberg and his partners produced what became the most famous book of the age: the Gutenberg Bible. Historians believe that they printed about 180 copies, and that most were made on paper, with some on more luxurious vellum. It was a beautiful book, and it could be produced much faster than any handwritten one.
The consequences were enormous. As printing shops spread across Europe, books became cheaper, and more people learned to read. Ideas, news, and discoveries traveled faster than ever before. Scientists could share their findings, writers could reach a wide audience, and ordinary people could read texts that had once belonged only to the rich and the powerful.
Today, we read on screens, and a book can be sent across the world in a second. But the idea behind Gutenberg's press is the same: a good idea becomes powerful when many people can read it.
