“Before the 15th century, books were precious and extremely rare, for each had to be copied by hand. A single book might cost as much as a farm. Books were also exquisite works of art, carefully lettered in calligraphy, lavishly illustrated and decorated. In the 1440s, Johann Gutenberg’s movable type press boosted book production over a thousand-fold, making books affordable (and literacy worthwhile, and political awareness possible) for the average person for the first time. Gutenberg’s emulation of calligraphy was so accurate, his bibles were sold as handmade manuscripts in Paris. When people noticed the quantity and similarity of the books, they did not suspect printing, but witchcraft!