As you can imagine, writing a book by hand was a very long and difficult process. Though printing was invented more than a thousand years
ago in China, it was not adapted for use with European scripts until the 15th century. The Chinese, however, were adept at printing scrolls and books using wooden blocks with whole pages of characters carved into them. In the west, the pioneer of printing was a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg who invented a moveable type 557 years ago. This made it possible to print books much more quickly and cheaply.
