How many books existed before the printing press?
~20 million books printed by 1500
HistoryBefore Gutenberg (about 1450), books were copied by hand, and total output across medieval Western Europe is estimated at roughly 10 million manuscripts over a thousand years. In the first 50 years of printing, about 20 million copies were produced; in the 16th century, 150 to 200 million. Google estimated about 130 million distinct book titles in 2010.
Source: Buringh & van Zanden (2009), Journal of Economic History; Febvre & Martin, The Coming of the Book (1976)
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