Johannes Gutenburg invented movable type for the printing press, and changed renaissance books.
Originally from China, the printing press revolutionized life in Western Europe during the Renaissance. A German goldsmith by the name of Johannes Gutenberg (1399-1468) was the first European to adapt the Chinese model for western languages, with the use of movable type. Gutenberg produced the first printed book, a standard version of the bible used in the Christian Church. It became known as the Gutenberg Bible.
Early Books
Early books in Europe were very labor intensive. Each page was cut from a single piece of wood. This made the books short and prohibitively expensive. Until the 1450s the only way a person could obtain a copy of written work was by copying it himself (highly unlikely, given the illiteracy rates of the time) or to commission a costly manuscript. Beautifully decorated manuscripts were expensive and difficult to read, because of their spiky, gothic lettering.
Movable Type
Gutenberg discovered a method of making individual letters on punches, known as movable type. This technique made it much easier and faster to print books. Gutenberg continued to use gothic script in his printing press, mimicking handwritten illuminated scripts. Early books were written in Latin, the universal language of the church and of academia. However, as more publishing houses sprang up throughout Western Europe, that began to change.
Renaissance Publishing
Publishing houses were soon located in not only Germany, but also Rome, Paris, Cologne, Lyon, Augsburg, and Venice. Roman printers began using script based on the cursive letters of humanist’s handwriting. This Roman script would become the standard penmanship by the end of the sixteenth century.
Printing houses throughout Europe quickly realized the benefits of printing books in the vernacular, or everyday language of an area. This opened up reading to many more people than the use of Latin. The rapid spread of printed books written in the vernacular led to a dramatic increase in literacy rates around Western Europe.
Reading for Pleasure
During the Middle Ages reading was done as a social activity, with one person reading to a group or audience. People would gather in salons, at court, or in coffeehouses (think a Medieval version of Starbucks) to hear a reading. With the availability of cheap books and pamphlets, more and more people were reading in the privacy of their own homes. A shift in subject matter also encouraged reading for pleasure. Early books were written mainly about religious or academic subjects. By the 1500s, a person could visit a book fair and peruse books written about a variety of topics, including Medieval romance, medicinal treaties, prayer books, political ideology by Machiavelli, and exciting recounts of explorers and adventurers.
Cha..Cha..Changes
All this reading helped spread new information and ideas across Europe, from the British Isles to the Ottoman Empire and beyond. In keeping with the Humanistic ideals of the day, people constantly engaged in thought provoking conversations and debates. They began to question old institutions and beliefs. One monk, living in the small German town of Wittenberg, would forever change not only the history of Western Europe, but the entire Christian religion. When the monk, Martin Luther, posted his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg in 1517, he started a movement of protesters, who wanted to celebrate Christianity as they saw fit. They believed the Christian Church to be corrupt and too preoccupied with secular (worldly) matters. Copies of Martin Luther’s 95 theses (undoubtedly printed on a printing press) were passed all around Western Europe, and the Protestant Reformation was begun.
Sources
Sider, Sandra. Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe. New York: Facts on File inc,. 2005
