Synopses & Reviews
What difference did printing make? Although the importance of the advent of printing for the Western world has long been recognized, it was Elizabeth 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 provides a stimulating survey of the communications revolution of the fifteenth century. After summarizing the initial changes, and introducing the establishment of printing shops, it considers how printing effected three major cultural movements: the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the rise of modern science. First Edition Hb (1984) 0-521-25858-8 First Edition Pb (1984) 0-521-27735-3
Synopsis
This illustrated and abridged edition gives a stimulating survey of the communications revolution of the fifteenth century.
Synopsis
New illustrated and abridged edition surveys the communications revolution of the fifteenth century.
Synopsis
This illustrated and abridged edition of Professor Eisenstein's major work, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, gives a stimulating survey of the communications revolution of the fifteenth century.
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Elizabeth L. Eisenstein is the Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of History (Emerita) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is the author of many book and articles, including The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (Cambridge, 1979) and Grub Street Abroad: Aspects of the Eighteenth Century French Cosmopolitan Press (1992). In 2002, she was awarded the American Historial Association's Award for Scholarly Distinction.
Table of Contents
Part I. The Emergence of Print Culture in the West: 1. The 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 Reformation; 7. The book of nature transformed: printing and the rise of modern science; 8. Conclusion: Scripture and nature transformed; Afterword: revisiting the printing revolution.