The History of the Media
From Monastery to Profitability
From the beginning of printing in the Western world, around 1450, publishing rapidly
expanded from monasteries to stationers who produced and sold hand-copied books in
limited quantities. Since Europe's stationers and printers had increasing commercial
incentives to publish and sell books, they sought more titles and distribution channels.
As businesses developed a pro. t motive for expanding the ranks of the reading public,
the new print media left the limited distribution of early manuscripts behind and began
reaching for larger a…
