Experiences, dislocations and losses: The complex mechanisms of fifteenth‐century book technology

Abstract

This article aims to be a step forward in our understanding of fifteenth-century printing and aims to suggest how to conceptualize the differences between Medieval written culture and Renaissance print culture. Although this article refers to the first years of the so-called printing revolution, it provides an account for the nature of the concepts of technological systems, progress and change. “Experiences, dislocations and losses” brings together and alludes to several general theoretical perspectives, observations and analyses of technology, progress, development, evolution and systems. This article represents my revision and adaptation of these still confusing concepts and different perspectives into a historical mode of analysis and understanding of fifteenth-century printing.