Copperplate of 1215-1216: paper money with ten bronze movable typesJikji, "Selected Teachings of Buddhist Sages and Son Masters" from Korea, the earliest known book printed with movable metal type, 1377. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ParisReplica of the Gutenberg press at the International Printing Museum in Carson, CaliforniaEuropean output of books printed by movable type from ca. 1450 to 1800 [1]The folder of newspaper web offset printing press
Printing is one of the technologies which has changed the world. It is an efficient way to multiply writing, so that copies may be made available to all people. Printing is therefore the continuation of writing by mechanical means.
↑Buringh, Eltjo and van Zanden, Jan Luiten 2009. Charting the “Rise of the West”: manuscripts and printed books in Europe, a long-term perspective from the sixth through eighteenth centuries. The Journal of Economic History69, 2, p417, table 2.