The art of printing

Posted by R. Berg on April 30, 2003

In Reply to: The art of printing posted by Mei on April 30, 2003

: I am struggling with the following paragraph. Could anybody explain it for me ? Thank you.

: He who first shortened the labour of copyists by device of moveable types was disbanding hired armies, and cashiering most Kings and Senates, and creating a whole new democratic world; he had invented the art of printing.

: Mei

The invention of movable type served the cause of the common people, against royalty and rulers. It put much of the ruling class out of business ("disbanding," "cashiering").

That's a paraphrase of the sentence. What is implied is that Gutenberg's invention accomplished these things by making information more accessible.

• The art of printing bella 04/30/03