The Justification of Johann Gutenberg-Blake Morrison

Description

 A Stunning Historical Novel of the Middle Ages and the Invention That Changed the World

Condition: Very good

Around 1400, in the city of Mainz, a man was born whose invention of moveable metal type was to change the written word for ever and alter the course of history itself. Johann Gutenberg died 60 years later, robbed of his business, his printing presses and, so he thought, of his immortality.

Blake Morrison has woven a stunning novel around the few facts known about the life and work of Johann Gensfleisch (aka Gutenberg), master printer, charmer, con man, and visionary — the man who invented “artificial writing” and printed the Gutenberg Bible , putting thousands of monks out of work. In this dazzling debut novel, Morrison gives Gutenberg’s final a justification and apologia he dictated, ironically, to one of the young scribes made obsolete by his invention of movable metal type.

Through the eyes of the aging narrator, we see the Middle Ages in a strange new light and witness a moment of cultural transition as dramatic as the communications revolution of today.