4 ms·
All of those considerations are predicated on having the printing press first. There is little value in advanced literacy if written knowledge is rare or hard t
by tremon 2mo ago
All of those considerations are predicated on having the printing press first. There is little value in advanced literacy if written knowledge is rare or hard to come by. There is no need for licensing if verbatim copying takes a lifetime rather than an afternoon. Why would someone need an elaborate distribution system if their output is limited to (let's say) 2 books/year?
- bell-cot 2mo ago> All those considerations are predicated on having the printing press first. Not true. Consider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria Scribes are just lower efficiency, like wood-burning railroad trains vs. horse-drawn wagons. Not sure what you mean by "advanced literacy", but credible experts seem to put literacy rates in Ancient Rome (zero printing presses) in the neighborhood of 20%. If you consider how little demand (for printed material) there could be from slaves, rural peasants, and such - that's damned high. You seem focused on books with enormous page counts, requiring 6 months to a lifetime to copy. That's really not how societies without modern (ultra-cheap) printing technology did things. Same as their horse-drawn carriages didn't weigh anywhere near what a modern SUV does. (Yes, hand-copied Bibles were big. And rare. Are you trying to judge the size and cost of typical medieval buildings by the surviving the cathedrals and castles?)