>This process exhibits a dynamics that, on closer inspection, turns out to be caused to a large extent by the necessity to adhere to early modern marketing rule

>This process exhibits a dynamics that, on closer inspection, turns out to be caused to a large extent by the necessity to adhere to early modern marketing rules for academic prints. These rules required the rapid introduction of scientific works in various formats to the market, with multiple editions of each work released in close temporal proximity to one another As a singular case study, Darnton's study on the Encyclopedie is a masterpiece on showing how commerce, yes, good old commerce, was such a big driver of the Enlightenment. To me, it's also a much more satisfying explanation than Jared Diamond's speculations on the whole "why Europe" question. The unique confluence of factors -- including the very key commercialization of knowledge -- was not quite to be found elsewhere, even though Europe only a few centuries before the Enlightenment was arguably well behind multiple knowledge production traditions across the world. Darnton, Robert (1987): The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing History of the Encyclopédie 1775–1800 https://books.google.ca/books?id=kP1sgbO_Hh0C& https://books.google.ca/books?id=kP1sgbO_Hh0C&