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- In the early part of the 1400s, a German goldsmith
- named Johann Gutenberg used his skills with relatively soft,
- malleable metals and an old winepress to fashion the first
- workable press with moveable type. Until that moment, all
- books were copied by hand - usually by robed monks in a
- monestary. Until that moment, it was the monks who decided
- what books we could or could not read - what was fit or
- unfit for the human mind. Until that time, the largest
- "library" in Europe contained only fourteen hand-copied
- books.
-
- Now, thanks to Johann Gutenberg, the publishing
- industry was born and hundreds of books - thousands of books
- could be printed in the time it would take the monks to copy
- a single one.
-
- Since that time, many publishers have published many
- books that they knew would not be a commercial success -
- never be a Blockbuster Seller. However, many books have
- been published simply because someone recognized the fact
- that these books were needed as a part of our culture.