In the beginning, there was the word. Then Gutenberg invented the printing press, and the rest is history.

It’s hard to imagine life without the printed word and the byproducts of the printing press, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and journals, and, of course, books. The printing press became a cornerstone for modern civilization, right alongside industrialization and the agricultural revolution. The press allowed growing numbers of people to access ideas and stories, which influenced humanity, allowing theology, civil society, law, poetry, philosophy, analysis of the natural world, and everything in between and beyond to be shared, debated, fought over, and savored. The printed word shaped modern life and continues to shape mine.