History
How many books existed before the printing press?
30,000 → 20 million in 50 years
How many books existed before the printing press?
Before Gutenberg's printing press (~1440), Europe had roughly 30,000 handwritten manuscript books — almost all in monasteries. By 1500 (just 50 years later), over 20 million printed books existed. By 1600, more than 200 million. Today, approximately 135 million unique book titles exist. The printing press was arguably the most consequential technology in human history.
Source: Febvre & Martin (1976) The Coming of the Book; Eisenstein (1980)