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Once in a while, the conversation turns on what individual from history you'd like to meet. Put Johannes Gutenberg right near the top of my list. He's the fellow who invented the first workable printing press, back in 1440 in Mainz, Germany (then part of the Holy Roman Empire).
A goldsmith by trade, Gutenberg took elements of early technology that were the ideas of others to create the first precise and rapid system of movable type. It caught on in a hurry. He was not able to convert the technology into a financial success and died in poverty. By 1500, there were Gutenberg-inspired presses all over Western Europe that had produced some 20 million volumes, according to "The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450-1800."
The advent of readily available books might have put a lot of monks, who had labored tediously over elaborately decorated handcrafted volumes, out of work. But books had a significant role in the Reformation as they got into the hands of common folk. They were a threat to religious and political authority and elevated literacy into a highly desirable achievement.
My sister Leanne and I visited the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz one summer and spent several hours admiring the replica presses and marvelous early edition books dating back as far as the 15th century. Thanks,...