
The Gutenberg Revolution
A History of Print Culture
Richard Abel(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 30. May 2011
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-1-4128-1857-5 (ISBN)
Description
One of the most puzzling lapses in accounts of the rise of the West following the decline of the Roman Empire is the casual way historians have dealt with Gutenberg's invention of printing. The cultural achievements that followed the fifteenth century, when the West moved from relative backwardness to remarkable, robust cultural achievement, would have been impossible without Gutenberg's gift and its subsequent widespread adoption across most of the world.
Richard Abel follows the radical cultural impact of the printing revolution from the eighth century to the Renaissance, addressing the viability of the new Christian/Classical culture. Although this culture proved too fragile to endure, those who salvaged it managed to preserve elements of the Classical substance together with the Bible and all the writings of the Church Fathers. The cultural upsurge of the Renaissance (fourteenth to seventeenth centuries), which resulted in part from Gutenberg's invention, is a major focus of this book.
Abel aims to delineate how the cultural revolution was shaped by the invention of printing. He evaluates its impact on the rapid reorientation and acceleration of the cultural evolution in the West. This book provides insight into the history of the printed word, the roots of modern-day mass book production, and the promise of the electronic revolution. It is an essential work in the history of ideas.
Richard Abel follows the radical cultural impact of the printing revolution from the eighth century to the Renaissance, addressing the viability of the new Christian/Classical culture. Although this culture proved too fragile to endure, those who salvaged it managed to preserve elements of the Classical substance together with the Bible and all the writings of the Church Fathers. The cultural upsurge of the Renaissance (fourteenth to seventeenth centuries), which resulted in part from Gutenberg's invention, is a major focus of this book.
Abel aims to delineate how the cultural revolution was shaped by the invention of printing. He evaluates its impact on the rapid reorientation and acceleration of the cultural evolution in the West. This book provides insight into the history of the printed word, the roots of modern-day mass book production, and the promise of the electronic revolution. It is an essential work in the history of ideas.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Inc
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
451 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4128-1857-5 (9781412818575)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2017
Routledge
€68.49
Available for download

E-Book
07/2017
Routledge
€68.49
Available for download

Book
07/2012
1st Edition
Routledge
€74.10
Shipment within 10-15 days
Person
Richard Abel
Content
1: A Brief Account of the History of the Culture of the West to 1450; 2: Gutenberg's Printing Revolution and the Cultural Revolution of the Last Half of the Fifteenth Century; 3: The Spread of Printing and Its Consequences in the Sixteenth Century; 4: The Cultural Triumph of the Seventeenth Century and the Role of Print Therein; 5: Epilogue: Closing Remarks and Summary