Before printing spread, books were rare objects. Many books were copied by hand, which took time and money. Producing one book required skilled writers, materials, and long labor. As a result, only a limited number of people could own or use many books.
In fifteenth-century Western Europe, Johannes Gutenberg developed printing with metal movable type and a mechanical press. His famous Gutenberg Bible is known as one of the first major books printed in Western Europe with movable metal type.
The important idea behind movable type was reuse. Printers could arrange individual letters, ink them, and press them onto paper. Then they could use the same letters again for another page. This was very different from copying every word by hand.
Printing did not make books cheap overnight. Early printed books were still expensive, beautiful, and carefully made. But printing made it easier to reproduce the same text many times. A book, pamphlet, or notice could travel to more towns and readers than before.
This changed reading culture. Scholars could compare the same text. Merchants could use printed information. Religious and political ideas could move faster. Students could study from more standardized materials.
Printing also changed trust. When many readers saw the same words on the same pages, they could argue about meaning instead of only arguing about copies. Errors still existed, but they could be noticed, corrected, and discussed by a wider public.
Printing was not only a machine for making pages. It changed the speed of knowledge. It helped reading become less private and more shared across society.