“What if” some of this later technology had been available at the time of the earlier books we’ve seen, like those printed from a hand press? “Senefelder created a press in 1817 that both wet the plate and inked it automatically, making the process practicable for mass production of images” (Howard, 131). Had this press been available much earlier, works done by the hand press could have been much more easily mass-produced. Saving both time and energy lithography also could have increased the amount of images in books as well, perhaps changing the character of some of these books. Not only would more of the same book have been in circulation, but also books with more images within them.
In advancing the effectiveness and clarity of type, inventors also created ways to improve image reproduction. With that technology, books in earlier times may very well have had more pictures in them. I wonder if it would be cheaper to make images than type. Perhaps picture books, or books with lots of diagrams would have been more popular.
It would be interesting to see what other works might have been produced in the early stages of book publishing had the technology been more widely available. Some potentially influential or great texts of the time may have been lost due to the amount of time and effort it took to produce books in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Additionally, if it was easier to make books then the cost of the books would be reduced. This would allow for more of the population to be literate and share the printed word. I wonder what that would mean for previous generations.