How did they make books?

To purchase a copy of
From the Good Mountain: A Companion Guide
for Adults and Children;
How Books Were Made in the Fifteenth Century ,
click here.

In the months prior to the publication of my children’s book From the Good Mountain: How Gutenberg Changed the World, it occurred to me that it would be a nice idea to offer curious readers a more detailed view of Johannes Gutenberg and how books were made in the fifteenth century. Thus this companion guide was born.

What started out as a forty-page volume soon grew into a book of twelve chapters with well over a hundred drawings and diagrams to explain the pictures in my children’s book to people who want to know more. Because the companion book is so large, I have added lots of “see page” references within the text as well as a complete index.

Here are the chapter titles:

1     Introduction

2     Who Was the Man from the Good Mountain?

3     Paper—From Rags to Riches

4     Leather—Gift of the Goats

5     Gold—Wings of a Butterfly

6     Ink—Black as Night

7     Types—Shining like Money

8     The Press—Strong as an Oak

9     The Printing Process

10    Illumination

11    Bookbinding

12    Printers Aren’t People Anymore

Here are some sample illustrations:

A piece of lead type and the names of its parts

Binding a book

The illuminator and the ancient days—
without the computer's "do-over button"