Gutenberg's Printing Press

There is almost no other event that could be called as influential as the printing press that Gutenberg invented around 1440. Before this monumental creation, books were copied by hand. Laboriously, monks and other men of learning would spend hours and hours through the bright sunlight and the weak light of an oil lamp to make copies of religious texts, literature, and official documents.

 It could take years just to copy one book. When Gutenberg devised a printing press that could print copy after copy in just a small fraction of the time, the whole world changed dramatically. All of a sudden, everyone could have their own copies of the religious scriptures. 

They could read them for themselves. Political pamphlets could be made by the thousands and influence the masses like never before. Learning was not limited to a select few. It was available for all. Books were not just for the rich. They could be made for those of lower classes. Gutenberg’s press changed the political world, the religious world, and the everyday life of man. No more would we lean on a select few to direct us. We could take it for ourselves.

Johannes Gutenberg

Drawing of printing style invented by Gutenberg

95 Theses by Martin Luther done by Gutenberg's press

Gutenberg Bible: The first Bible printed for the masses