Sunday, November 28, 2004

Topic 5: The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer

Meltzer, Milton. 2003. Printing Press. New York: Benchmark Books.
ISBN: 076141536X.

Milton Meltzer takes young adult reader back to the 15th century for an examination in the development and evolution of the printing process in his nonfiction book, THE PRINTING PRESS. Meltzer has written text that is simple and easy to understand yet does not patronize or condescend by using language too easy for students. He also provides information in asides that define terms or provides information about important people. But Meltzer does not focus solely on the printing press as it was invented. He also explores the resulting evolution of information and societal changes stemming from the invention. “Meltzer emphasizes the more positive outcomes of the printing press. Science, religion, democracy, and exploration all benefited enormously from the widespread dissemination of information and knowledge that followed the advent of movable type.” (Kopple.)

THE PRINTING PRESS looks also at how people in history have used the invention of the printing press to bring about some form of social change. For example, “Bibles printed in vernacular languages rather than in Latin. Now people could read scriptures for themselves, said the Lutherans.”(Meltzer, 45.) Throughout history, reading was limited to the wealthy and to the clergy. With the advent of the printing press more and more people were able to learn to read. Meltzer also notes that even in England, English was not always understood from part of the country to the next, but that printers in their commercial interests had to make the language understandable if they wanted the book to sell. “In this work readers… will then see how in a variety of situations the printed word has influenced human behavior. Examples such as Tom Paine's Common Sense or William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper The Liberator are but two ways in which ideas were spread via publication. Meltzer touches upon a variety of such exemplars of the ways printing presses have been used to shift public opinion and shape history.” (Romaneck.)

Meltzer included a couple of websites that are related to the printing press as well as a bibliography. These important additions will aid students should they be working on a project, or simply interested in history and how it was shaped by the invention of the printing press. The evolution of print is touched on and its future role in society as well. Melzter’s easy handling of the subject material is enlightening and the information about famous people is interesting and relevant. It is interesting to note the famous people who began their careers as printers, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman and Samuel Clemens and people who as printers made a difference in the way our country evolved, such as William Lloyd Garrison, founder of The Liberator, an anti-slavery publication, and the man who published “Frederick Douglass’s slave narrative and rise to leadership in the abolition movement.” (Meltzer, 100.) Meltzer also included images that have been printed on the press, images of ancient forms of writing and paintings of people important to the subject. These images break up the text and allow the reader to “rest” their eyes before moving on to the next section of text. This book would be natural selection for a history class as it contains information about a major instrument of change and also some information about forms of writing throughout history.

Reference List:
Meltzer, Milton. 2003. The Printing Press. New York: Benchmark Books.
Kopple, Jody. 2003. Review of The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer. Library Journal. Available at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ft1eP5UAaj&isbn=076141536X&itm=1. Last accessed 27 November 2004.
Romaneck, Greg M. 2003. Review of The Printing Press by Milton Meltzer. Children’s Literature. Available at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ft1eP5UAaj&isbn=076141536X&itm=1. Last accessed 27 November 2004.