The Printing Press as an Agent of Change

1980/09/30 by Elizabeth L. Eisenstein · 1 voice · 17 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Renaissance Literature and Culture

paper · doi:10.1017/cbo9781107049963

openalex publication_date 1980/09/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02

Abstract

Originally published in two volumes in 1980, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change is now issued in a paperback edition containing both volumes. The work is a full-scale historical treatment of the advent of printing and its importance as an agent of change. Professor Eisenstein begins by examining the general implications of the shift from script to print, and goes on to examine its part in three of the major movements of early modern times - the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the rise of modern science.

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Discussions

• 1. Birth of a publishing empire The printing press, invented around 1440, revolutionized how information spread – helping to create the era’s equivalent of a viral conspiracy theory. [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]