Woodblock printing reached Europe well before Gutenberg, yet handwritten manuscripts continued to be produced and even grew in volume for some time after its introduction. Why did manuscript culture persist and even expand despite the availability of this new technology? Give two reasons.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 15:00 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Manuscript culture persisted despite woodblock printing for two main reasons:
- Preference of the elite: Aristocratic circles and rich monastic libraries looked down on printed books as "cheap vulgarities." They preferred luxury editions handwritten on expensive vellum, which were unique and exclusive, as no two copies were exactly the same.
- Organised production to meet demand: As demand for books grew, booksellers began organising handwritten manuscript production on a larger scale, employing more than 50 scribes at a time — so manuscript production actually expanded to keep pace with rising demand.
Source: Print Comes to Europe, Chapter 5
---
Explanation
The examiner expects both reasons to come directly from the passage. The key phrases to use are "cheap vulgarities" (elite attitude) and "more than 50 scribes often worked for one bookseller" (organised, expanded production). Avoid generic reasons like "people preferred handwriting" without the textbook's specific context. Since it's 3 marks for 2 reasons, one reason with explanation earns 1 mark each, and the remaining mark goes to overall clarity/accuracy.