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How did the printing press take over Europe in fifty years? (for a curious adult who has not studied history). Cover, in this order: How were books made before the printing press?; What exactly did Gutenberg invent?; Wasn't printing invented earlier in China and Korea?; Why did printing jump from city to city instead of spreading like a ripple?; Why did books become so much cheaper?; What changed once many people could read the same words? — page 4: Why Print Spread in Jumps
Imagine a pebble in a pond. Ripples reach nearby spots first. Many people assume printing spread like that, outward from Mainz, town by town.
A press alone was not enough. A printer needed investors, paying customers, and a way to ship paper and books. Only certain cities offered all three.
Early printing took off where merchants had money and ships, like Venice, and where universities needed books, like Paris, Cologne, and Basel. Mainz is where printing started.
Printers carried their skills along trade routes. German craftsmen opened shops in Italy early, while smaller towns near Mainz had to wait. Sparks, not a stain.
Each new hub then supplied its own region and seeded further shops. The spread became a network of centers, not one widening circle around Mainz.
Print traveled where money, readers, and skilled hands already gathered, so it jumped between cities fast, and that crowded competition is what drove prices down next.