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How Gutenberg Made Movable Type
- Johannes Gutenberg developed a system of metal type using punched matrices and hand-held moulds to cast durable, reusable letters.
- He applied goldsmith precision to make thousands of movable types quickly and replace worn letters cheaply.
Books Became Mass Consumer Goods
- Gutenberg's system collapsed the cost of books from months' wages to hours' wages within decades.
- Printed output in the first century after Gutenberg exceeded all hand-copied books in Europe's prior history.
Printing Remade Business Structures
- Printing created a new business model outside medieval guilds, financed by merchant bankers who fronted capital and organized distribution.
- Printers operated as for-profit firms and often took on heavy debt to run presses and typeset books.