Page 76 - 2024-bfw-wiesner-hanks-ahws14e-proofs

58 CHAPTER 2 | European Society in the Renaissance 1350–1550

and, most important, a new Latin translation of the on many topics, but the immediate impact of their
New Testament alongside the first printed edition ideas was very different because of one thing: the inven-
of the Greek text (1516). In the preface to the New tion of the printing press with movable metal type. The
Testament, Erasmus expressed his ideas about Bible ideas of Petrarch were spread slowly from person to per-
translations: “I wish that even the weakest woman son by hand copying. The ideas of Erasmus were spread
should read the Gospel — should read the epistles of quickly through print, allowing hundreds or thousands
Paul. And I wish these were translated into all lan- of identical copies to be made in a short time.
guages, so that they might be read and understood, Printing with movable metal type developed in
not only by Scots and Irishmen, but also by Turks Germany in the 1440s as a combination of existing
and Saracens.” 5 technologies. Several metalsmiths, most prominently
Two fundamental themes run through all of Eras- Johann Gutenberg, recognized that the metal stamps
mus’s work. First, education in the Bible and the used to mark signs on jewelry could be covered with
classics is the means to reform, the key to moral and ink and used to mark symbols onto a surface in the
intellectual improvement. Erasmus called for a renais- same way that other craftsmen were using carved
sance of the ideals of the early church to accompany wood stamps to print books. (This woodblock print-
Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample.
the renaissance in classical education that was already ing technique originated in China and Korea centu-
individuals in a print shop. On the Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
going on, and criticized the church of his day for ries earlier.) Gutenberg and his assistants made metal
having strayed from these ideals. Second, renewal stamps — later called type — for every letter of the
should be based on what he termed “the philosophy alphabet and built racks that held the type in rows.
of Christ,” an emphasis on inner spirituality and This type could be rearranged for every page and so
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.
personal morality rather than Scholastic theology or used over and over.
outward observances such as pilgrimages or the ven- The printing revolution was also made possible by
eration of relics. His ideas, and Christian humanism the ready availability of paper, which was also pro-
in general, were important roots of the Protestant duced using techniques that had originated in China.
Reformation, although Erasmus himself denied this Unlike the printing press, this technology had been
and never became a follower of Luther (see “Martin brought into Europe through Muslim Spain rather
Luther” in Chapter 4). than developing independently.
By the fifteenth century the increase in urban lit-
eracy, the development of primary schools, and the
The Printed Word Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
opening of more universities had created an expand-
The fourteenth-century humanist Petrarch and the ing market for reading materials. When Gutenberg
sixteenth-century humanist Erasmus had similar ideas developed movable type printing as a faster way to

Printer’s Shop This engraving
from a late-sixteenth-century book
captures the many tasks and mix of

far left three compositors assemble
pieces of type into a framework,
while in the left foreground another
checks a frame and a proofreader,
wearing glasses, checks printed
proof. At the back a woman, per-
haps the printer’s wife, inks type,
while in front of her the printer
pulls a lever to operate the press. In
the front a young apprentice hangs
sheets to dry, and the well-dressed
man at the right may be the patron
or official who ordered the print
job. (INTERFOTO/Alamy Stock Photo)

04_howsap14e_48443_ch02_044_079.indd 58 12/10/23 1:42 PM