Gutenberg's printing press revolutionized the spread of knowledge in Europe. Before its invention, books were rare and expensive since they had to be copied by hand. Only the wealthy could afford books, and the Bible was the primary text available. Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1400s, which allowed texts to be mass produced using movable metal type. His first printed book was the Gutenberg Bible. The printing press had a profound influence, making knowledge widely accessible for the first time. It helped launch the Protestant Reformation and the Scientific Revolution by distributing information to the masses.

1. The Media Revolution
Erik Bergholm

2. Life Before Gutenberg
• Books could be found only in
monasteries, places of education,
and in the homes of the very
wealthy
• As copying was a laborious process,
only texts that held wide appeal
were reproduced
• Not surprisingly, the Bible was the
primary text

3. • Scribes were responsible for
copying manuscripts, while
“illuminators” created the
illustrations
• Illuminators added stylized fonts,
gold trimming, and beautiful color
to the tomes
• Worked in special rooms called
scriptoriums
• Scribes and similar trades formed
guilds, similar to today’s unions

4. Early Process
• Parchment was made from animal skin
• Bought, brought to the monastery, and
rubbed smooth by an assistant, before the
copying could begin
• Lines had to be spaced exactly, marked by
knife incisions

5. Gutenberg
• Trained as a metallurgist and goldsmith
• Hailed from Mainz, Germany. Born around 1399
• Used his skills in metalworking to aid in the
construction of his most important invention
• First mass-marketed book he produced was the
Gutenberg Bible

6. The Printing Press
• Inspired by the wine press, which uses a similar
technique
• Constructed mainly of wood
• Letters were carved onto movable “keys”. These
were coated with ink

7. Demonstration
http://youtu.be/ksLaBnZVRnM

8. Its Influence
• Allowed books to be mass
produced
• Naturally, knowledge would
be available to many more
people
• Learning something—be it a
trade, language, etc—once
required the assistance of a
mentor. Now all one had to
do was learn to read

9. • Created an intellectual revolution in all areas
of thought—philosophy, science, and religion
• Since the layperson could buy a Bible now, it
was open to individual interpretation
• The Copernican Revolution would not have
been possible without the printing press
• Culture moved from oral to literate

10. Food for Thought
• The invention, and subsequent massproduction, of books allowed humanity to
store its collective knowledge
• No longer do we have to rely on heredity and
oral tradition
• Books are the new DNA. Humanity has
transcended physical evolution
• Echoes what famous astronomer said (was it
Sagan or Hawking?)

11. Superstition and the Written Word
• A demon known as Tutivillus was said to
haunt scribes
• Legend continued even after the
printing press
• Demon would cause errors and lack of
concentration (typos and writer’s block)
• According to some tales, monks would
be punished in afterlife for too many
spelling errors

12. Sources
• "A Gallimaufry." 'a Gallimaufry' N.p., 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
• "End of Europe's Middle Ages - The Impact of the Printing Press." End of
Europe's Middle Ages - The Impact of the Printing Press. University
of Calgary, 6 Nov. 2001. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
• "Harry Ransom Center the University of Texas at Austin." Harry Ransom
Center RSS. University of Texas at Austin, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
• "Inventor of the Week: Archive." Inventor of the Week: Archive. Lemelson
MIT, Aug. 2004. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.