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One can try to make a list of the new technologies that have had the most effect on humankind. There will probably be some disagreement among various people’s lists, but I am quite sure that everyone would put the printing press somewhere in their top ten and maybe even in their top five.
In Fine Print: A Story about Johann Gutenberg, Joann Johanson Burch tells the story of Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable-type printing press, from boyhood through old age. She explains many technical details that help the reader understand and appreciate the difficulty of this invention, which was three decades in the making. The book tells a fascinating story showing the incredible inventiveness and creativity that God has built into those inventors of Gutenberg’s caliber. I learned many new things about this famous man whose invention changed the world.
The movable-type press is a machine where each page of a book can be set up by placing metal type into a frame. That way, the type could be readily reused for new pages. Gutenberg was a goldsmith, so he knew metal and how to mold and machine metal into precise shapes. Gutenberg’s greatest achievement, besides this invention that changed the world, was the first printing of the complete Bible (Latin Vulgate edition), beginning the process of making the Word of God more widely available, at a much lower cost, than it ever was before.
The author tells the story of Gutenberg and the first printed Bible, as well as surrounding problems, such as jealous rivals and ornery partners, in clear, interesting prose that would be understandable for the upper elementary grades and higher. I note that there are still some complete copies of Gutenberg’s Bibles existing today, survivors of the original 200, almost 600 years later. One such copy is on display in the Library of Congress, in Washington, DC, which I have seen. Inexpensive, widely available printed matter, as is as the text we read on websites, owes their origin to the genius and dedication of Johann Gutenberg.
An especially helpful one-page preface by the author tells something of the various sources that are available, and those that don’t exist, to give the historical facts behind this book. The illustrations by Kent Alan Aldrich fit the text in an outstanding fashion, because they are hand-carved linoleum block prints, which look quite similar to the wood-block prints that would have been used in Gutenberg’s time. Please also see my review of the historical novel, Ink on His Fingers by Louise Vernon.