Value of narrative publications prior to the printing press

Before printing, the literacy rate was below 10%.

One of the best guides for understanding history is to understand that the world of the past was not a literate world but a visual one. When people in power wanted to communicate a message to the masses, they did so visually. Art. Architecture. Clothing. Jewelry. Public statues. Executions. Lavish events. Tournaments. Monuments.

Depending on the level of detail on the work, a hand-created book represented thousands of hours of work in a scriptorium by dozens of people. It would easily be worth thousands of relative present-day dollars and be out of reach for all but the most elite readers. Churches, rulers, high aristocracy, and universities were the main purchasers of these works. The lecture system that colleges have used for centuries has its roots in professors simply reading books to audiences, who took notes. That was how most people experienced books before printing... most had books or excerpts read to them.

quote:

---

prior to the printing press

---

The printing press has been around for a really long time

What you are trying to reference is 'moveable type". This is what allowed the printed word to become so much more available. A new plate was not longer needed for each page of printed word