Continuity and Change

Lecture Notes and Wiesner-Hanks Textbook

How did the printing press become popular in Early Modern Europe?

It already existed in China since ~1000, but upon coming to Europe ~1500 was adopted quickly and more efficiently than in China due to differences in the alphabets

What technological advances were recognised at the time as influential in Early Modern Europe?

The creation of the printing press, gunpowder, and the compass → Sir Francis Bacon recognising their importance

What were the overall estimates for the number of publications throughout Early Modern Europe after the invention of the printing press?

• Before 1500 → 20 million

• 1500-1600 → 150-200 million

• 1700-1800 → 1500 million

France and Russia do not contribute as much to these figures → increased censorship

How was reading embraced in Early Modern Europe?

Learning to read became more popular (not write) as reading was seen as more essential and reading became a social activity in which those who could not read were read to

What factors influenced literacy rates?

Gender, population, and education access

What are the main arguments in favour of the idea of a print revolution?

• The press marked a shift in production methods that allowed mass reliable replication of words and symbols

• Standardisation of texts allowed stable forms of texts to exist and made acquiring new knowledge easier

• Preservation of texts allowed maintenance of art and the potential to bring about change

• Diffusion resulted in increased scholarly change facilitated by libraries and bookstores

• Print supported Protestantism by spreading ideas without idolatry (often true of imagery)

• Print was influential within English Civil Wars with the production of propaganda and easy spread of the ideas

• Underground print markets gave more access to ideas 

What are the main arguments against the idea of a print revolution?

• The print revolution was only impactful due to a variety of other factors

• Rise of transportation networks and postal system allowed faster travelling of items → without ability to transport them, books would not have been influential

• The transition from oral to written tradition has been overexaggerated, with scribes existing pre-printing and oral tradition continuing post-printing

• Early Modern Europe continued to rely on oral traditions, which may have shaped print around them

• Large distrust of print meant new ideas were not always accepted → anonymity of authors allowed spreading of ideas just for profit, not for truth

• Hostility towards press existed with arguments that print pandered rather than expressing true thoughts

• Regimes could be strengthened just as much as they were weakened by print

• Correlation between print and action is not strongly established