Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Although Gutenberg's Bible was printed on a mechanical press, each copy was not identical because the borders, illustrations, and coloured highlights were added by hand after printing. Gutenberg printed the text in black ink, leaving blank spaces for artists to paint decorations and fill in colours manually. Since every artist worked differently, no two copies looked exactly the same.

Wealthy buyers preferred this lack of uniformity because it made their copy unique — no one else owned an identical book. Owning something exclusive was a mark of status among the elites.

Source: Chapter 5, Section 2.1 — Gutenberg and the Printing Press

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• The examiner wants two parts: (i) why copies differed, and (ii) why the rich liked it. Both must be addressed for full 3 marks.
• Key facts to include: text printed in black → spaces left blank → hand-painted borders/illustrations/colours → different artists = different results.
• For the second part, the keyword is uniqueness as a status symbol — elites valued exclusivity.
• Avoid over-explaining the printing process itself; that is not what the question asks.