Question

Write short note to show what you know about:
Erasmus's idea of the printed book.

Answer 1

Hint: Not everybody accepted the printed book, and there were doubts about it among those who did as well. Many were apprehensive of the impact that the simplified access to the written word and the greater distribution of books may have on the minds of people. It was feared that rebellious and irreligious thoughts would spread if there was no control over what was printed and read.

Complete answer:
The Latin scholar and Catholic reformer, Erasmus, was a critic of the print medium. He opposed the printing of books because he was afraid that the circulation of books full of rebellious ideas would contribute to this. He thought that most of the books were useless and illogical, spreading only scandalous and irreligious ideas. According to him, the value of important literature would be lost with such books arriving in large numbers. The power of 'valuable' literature would be destroyed if that happened. This fear was the source of widespread criticism of the new printed literature that had started to circulate, articulated by religious authorities and monarchs, as well as many writers and artists.

Erasmus remained a member of the Catholic Church all his life, remaining devoted from within to reforming the abuses of the Church and its clerics. He also stuck to the doctrine of synergism, which some Reformers (Calvinists) opposed in favour of the doctrine of monergism. In both camps, his middle road solution frustrated and even angered scholars.

Note: The smallest printed book in the world (according to the "Guinness World Book of Records") is a Japanese picture book of 22 pages, mainly containing flowers, measuring 0.0291x0.0295". To see the pictures, a magnifying glass is required.

As a pop-culture phenomenon, all of the books in the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" series had initial print runs in the millions. The initial print run of JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" broke a printing industry record. But, with 12 million copies in its first printing, "Deathly Hallows" vastly outnumbered the others, making it the largest initial print run ever recorded.