V.: Johannes Gutenberg Perfects His Printing Press — 1440

Before movable type, passing along information with any sort of permanence moved at the speed of write. The act of recording was so labor-intensive that one had to charge exceptional sums of money to make bookmaking a worthwhile endeavor, and this meant that only the very rich could afford to read. Gutenberg’s system of movable type allowed bookmakers to print in volume, since they could make an edition of dozens of books in less time than it would have taken to manually duplicate one. With all this information now floating around out there, and with the price of books quickly becoming feasible to the average 15th century consumer, people might actually try to pick up a book, and then you will slowly see some semblance of an informed public develop. Informed publics tend to develop this notion that they deserve to have some sort of say in how decisions are made that affect them, and the next thing you know someone’s coming down with a case of democracy.

References:

1. “Johannes Gutenberg – Printing Press.” Inventors. 15 June 2009 <http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/Gutenberg.htm>.

~ by Neil Calvin on June 15, 2009.