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How Printing Changed the World
by Adrito Delaso
http://www.appublishing.com
Before printing presses were invented, there were very
limited opportunities to read books. Because the only way to
reproduce a book for distribution was to copy it by hand,
the process was slow, expensive and reserved only for books
that were considered worth copying.
It is interesting to know that the Great Library at
Alexander was one of the biggest in the medieval world. The
authorities impounding all written material found on boats
that docked at the city's port achieved this. These were
then copied and subsequently returned to the rightful
owners.
With such a painful process of printing, reading was
reserved only for the upper strata of the society. In fact,
in those days, it was only the upper class that could read
and write. One book that was popular in the Europe's dark
ages was the best selling book of all times - the Bible.
The priest read out bible and held extreme power.
When the printing revolution occurred in Europe, the church
was the first to suffer. This was due to extensive
propaganda launched by its critics and it also contributed
to the spread of Protestant reformation.
Literacy rates were still low however and many of the books
used illustrations rather than text to tell the tales. One
such book was the 'Whore of Babylon', in which the Pope was
seen as the whore. He was often depicted behaving as though
he were greater than Jesus Christ - the Pope letting people
wash his feet whereas Christ had washed the feet of the
poor, or wearing three golden crowns when Christ had died
wearing a Crown of Thorns. They demonstrated clearly how the
Catholic Church had become sacrilegious in the eyes of it's
critics.
Printing is not however a Western invention, though the
first printing press in Europe, the Gutenberg Press of 1440
AD, is often quoted as the birth of widespread printing. In
fact a very similar moveable-type metal printing press was
invented in Korea in 1404. And the history of printing in
the East dates back the 6th century Before Christ.
Wood printing in the East in 9th century printing with
movable typefaces in the 11th century, was common in the
East. Pi Sheng invented movable typefaces printing in
China. The libraries in Baghdad and China held thousands of
printed books in the 13th century that was a rarity in
other parts of the world.
There is little doubt that the invention of printing was the
driving force for much social change, including the
Protestant movement. With printing came a method to spread
knowledge unlike anything else. It was matched by an impulse
to spread learning that meant a rise in literacy rates over
the years to come. The wonder of knowledge began to move
within everyone's reach, and the world was changed for good.
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