Not everyone was thrilled with Gutenberg’s creation. As…
““Not everyone was thrilled with Gutenberg’s creation. As today, there were pessimists and scolds who viewed new technology as a blight on civilization. In his recent book, The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future, Robert Darnton quotes from a letter written in 1471 by an Italian scholar named Nic-colò Perotti. Though he’d initially seen the printed book as a good thing, just a decade and a half into the print age, Perotti concluded it was a menace: I see that things turned out quite differently from what I had hoped. Because now that anyone is free to print whatever they wish, they often disregard that which is best and instead write, merely for the sake of entertainment, what would best be forgotten, or, better still be erased from all books. And even when they write something worthwhile they twist it and corrupt it to the point where it would be much better to do without such books, rather than having a thousand copies spreading falsehoods over the whole world.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Perotti feared that unrestricted printing would flood society with trivial or harmful works, eroding quality and truth.
In simple terms: Free printing can spread bad ideas.
Key Takeaway
Guard against low‑quality content.
Themes
technology
culture
information
ethics
history
Mood
cautious
reflective
Type
critical
historical
When to use this quote
- libraries
- education policy
- publishing standards
- digital platforms
Key Concepts
media proliferation
public discourse
censorship
quality control
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we balance free expression with protecting truth?
- What criteria define “worthwhile” content?
A Different Perspective
Even with safeguards, censorship risks stifling innovation.