book

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

How Gutenberg's printing press revolutionized literacy

For Students

Read Next

Mesopotamian Religion. Cuneiform tablet in the British Museum, London, England, 7th Century BC, describing the Flood Epic, a deluge story in the Epic of Gilgamesh added as Tablet XI to the ten original tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic by an editor who copied or altered parts of the flood story from the Epic of Atrahasis. (flood tablet, Neo Assyrian, clay tablet)

What Was the First Book Ever Written?

Close up of papyrus in a museum.

Before the E-Reader: 7 Ways Our Ancestors Took Their Reading on the Go

poem. A poet in a Heian period kimono writes Japanese poetry during the Kamo Kyokusui No En Ancient Festival at Jonan-gu shrine on April 29, 2013 in Kyoto, Japan. Festival of Kyokusui-no Utage orignated in 1,182, party Heian era (794-1192).

World Poetry Day

Discover

Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and autodidact.

6 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan

A mug shot taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellin

Pablo Escobar: 8 Interesting Facts About the King of Cocaine

Hemp (Cannabis sativa).

9 Mind-Altering Plants

Coriander leaves, fresh green cilantro on wooden background, herbs

Why Does Cilantro Taste Like Soap to Some People?

Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009

Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?

Ice Sledge Hockey, Hockey Canada Cup, USA (left) vs Canada, 2009. UBC Thunderbird Arena, Vancouver, BC, competition site for Olympic ice hockey and Paralympic ice sledge hockey. Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver Olympics

10 Best Hockey Players of All Time

Stylish light blue jeans on wooden background, closeup of inset pocket

Why Do Jeans Have That Tiny Pocket?

book: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos and Videos

How Gutenberg's printing press revolutionized literacy

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

incunabula best seller bookbinding chapbook proofreading incipit explicit book collecting book banning bookcase newspaper poster magazine newsletter wall newspaper album map telecommunications media media convergence magnetic recording

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

William Morris

British artist and author

Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch

Australian-born American publisher

Marc Brown

Marc Brown

American author and illustrator

A pioneering librarian

Belle da Costa Greene

American librarian and bibliographer

Larry McMurtry

American author

William Caxton

William Caxton

English printer, translator, and publisher

Aldus Manutius

Italian printer

Robert Maxwell, 1991.

Robert Maxwell

British publisher

Walter Hines Page, detail of a portrait by P.A. de Laszlo; in the collection of the Department of Archives and History, North Carolina

Walter Hines Page

American author and diplomat

Alden, Cynthia May Westover

Cynthia May Westover Alden

American social worker and journalist

Times New Roman

Stanley Morison

English typographer

Henri II Estienne

French scholar and printer

Walker, Emery: Brooks's in the Olden Time

Sir Emery Walker

English printer

Sir Victor Gollancz

British author and publisher

Robert Foulis

Scottish printer

Alfred A. Knopf

Alfred A. Knopf

American publisher

Virginia Kirkus

American critic, editor and author

Title page to the Biblia, showing olive-tree motif adopted as Estienne family emblem, 1532

Robert I Estienne

French scholar and printer

Wilfrid Sheed

Wilfrid Sheed

American author

John Lehmann

British poet