Book 43. Gutenberg’s
Apprentice, by Alix Christie. Unabridged audio.
I consider Johann Gutenberg to be
one of the most important figures of the previous millennium. This novel tells
the struggles that he and his team faced as he developed the technology that
would eventually become the printing press, one of the most revolutionary advances
in human history.
Peter Fust is a scribe in Paris,
when his father Johann Fust calls him back to Mainz to meet his new business
partner, Johann Gutenberg. He is a driven inventor who has devised a
revolutionary method of bookmaking. Faust is financing the operating, and orders
his son to become the inventor’s apprentice. Peter’s skills improve, and his admiration
grows for Gutenberg, and Peter dedicates himself to aiding Gutenberg in
creating his most daring venture yet: printing copies of the Holy Bible.
The novel includes interesting
insights into the histories of religion, society and culture of Europe in this
era. Some churchmen consider the new invention blasphemous, at least when used
in printing religious texts. This technology would drastically change the role
of monks, who served the church as scribes. The printers become caught in the
middle of a number of struggles between governmental and church authorities.
The details of the printing process
are explained well, as are the uncertainties of trying to harness any new
technology. Gutenberg’s drive as a businessman is not portrayed in a necessarily
positive manner, but the book does make clear that the financial incentives
offered by the printing press were a driving force in its development.
This is a first novel, and
Christie does a very good job weaving together the plots, characters, and
settings. I look forward to what the author produces next. The website for thebook includes some interesting facts about the production of the Gutenberg
Bible, the city of Mainz, and other historical items that were fictionalized in
the novel.
Source: Hoopla, after seeing the
book featured in a “historical fiction” display at Bexley Publuc Library.
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