"A short history of the printing press" by Robert Hoe. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Can one invention really change the world? Before the mid-fifteenth century, books were printed by hand, making them rare and expensive. Reading and learning remained a privilege of the wealthy—until Johannes Gutenberg developed a machine called the printing press. Gutenberg, a German metalworker, began in the 1440s by making movable type—small metal letters that were arranged to form words and sentences, replacing handwritten letters. Movable type fit into frames on the printing press, and the press then produced many copies of the same page. As movable type and the printing press made book production much faster and less expensive, reading material of all kinds became available to a far wider audience. In Gutenberg’s time, Europe was already on the brink of a new age—an explosion of world exploration, scientific discoveries, and political and religious changes. Gutenberg’s printing press helped propel Europe into the modern era, and his legacy remains in the thousands of books and newspapers printed each year to keep us informed, entertained, and connected. Indeed, Gutenberg’s development of the printing press became one of history’s pivotal moments.

The story of Oxford University Press spans five centuries of printing and publishing. This first volume traces the beginnings of the University Press, its relationship with the University, and developments in printing and the book trade, as well as the growing influence of the Press on the city of Oxford.

This work makes plain the evolution, impact and development of the printed word as we know it. Covering the earliest forms of the letters of the alphabet, to graphic technology today, this revised edition should appeal to designers, students and typophiles.

Upon its invention in the mid-1400s, the printing press instantly became a revolutionary device. It introduced literacy to the masses and led Europe out of the Middle Ages. This book explores the press' exciting history, the social and political conditions in place at the time Johannes Gutenberg invented it, and the changes the invention wrought afterward. It traces the evolution of moveable type and information dissemination up to modern electronic communications technology, examining the positive and negative effects of these developments, both in the past and on democracy and humankind today. This book will give readers a new appreciation for the written word, whether it is printed on paper or displayed on a screen.

In 1450, all Europe's books were handcopied and amounted to only a few thousand. By 1500 they were printed, and numbered in their millions. The invention of one man - Johann Gutenberg - had caused a revolution. Printing by movable type was a discovery waiting to happen. Born in 1400 in Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg struggled against a background of plague and religious upheaval to bring his remarkable invention to light. His story is full of paradox: his ambition was to reunite all Christendom, but his invention shattered it; he aimed to make a fortune, but was cruelly denied the fruits of his life's work. Yet history remembers him as a visionary; his discovery marks the beginning of the modern world.

A Short History of Cambridge University Press is an account of the world's oldest press, from the publication of the Press's first book in 1584 through to the present day. It emphasises the constitutional basis of the Press, which is an essential part of its parent university, and highlights the moments of change and crisis: Richard Bentley's revival in the 1690s, the Victorian renaissance in the 1850s, the rise of modern university publishing, two world wars, the crisis of the early 1970s - resolved by Geoffrey Cass's bold reconstruction - and the printing and publishing expansion of the 1990s. This history brings out the unique nature of the Press, which is an educational charitable enterprise, trading with vigour throughout the world and publishing over 2400 titles a year. This revised and illustrated second edition brings the story up to the turn of the millennium, and emphasises both the diversity of the Press's recent achievements and its current aims.