The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe
Douban
Elizabeth L. Eisenstein
overview
Although the importance of the advent of printing for Western civilisation has long been recognised, it was Professor Eisenstein, in her monumental, two-volume work, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, who provided the first full-scale treatment of the subject. This illustrated and abridged edition of Professor Eisenstein's study gives a stimulating survey of the communications revolution of the fifteenth century. It begins with a discussion of the general implications of the introduction of printing, and then explores how the shift from script to print entered into the three major movements of early modern times: the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the rise of modern science.
contents
List of illustrations and maps
Part I. The Emergence of Print Culture in the West
1. An unacknowledged revolution
2. Defining the initial shift
3. Some features of print culture
4. The expanding republic of letters
Part II. Interaction With Other Developments
5. The permanent Renaissance: mutation of a classical revival
6. Western Christendom disrupted: resetting the stage for the Reformation
7. The book of nature transformed: printing and the rise of modern science
8. Conclusion: Scripture and nature transformed.
