May 5, 2011 “In the cultural history of mankind there is no
event even approaching in importance the invention of printing
with movable types. It would require an extensive volume to set
forth even in outline the far-reaching effects of this invention
in every field of human enterprise and experience, or to
describe its results in the liberation of the human spirit from
the fetters of ignorance and superstition” (McMurtrie 136).
Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press is extolled
in Douglas McMurtrie’s work, The Book: The Story of Printing and
Bookmaking. Indeed this invention has changed the world. It
allowed for the spread of information quickly and inexpensively.
The idea of using separate type was not a novel one, movable
metal type was used in printing in Korea in the fourteenth
century. Printing with movable wood blocks even predates this by
several centuries in China. This in no way should undercut the
value of Gutenberg’s invention because he was able to build the
first machine that was cap