The spread of printing

"It is no exaggeration to describe Gutenberg's invention as Germany's most imporatnt single contribution to civilisation. However, the printers who , from about 1460 onward, went on their travels from Mainz wer little concerned with German culture. They were craftsmen and business men; they wanted to make a living; and they adapted themselves and their art to the conditions of international trade. Until printing had firmly established itself as an everyday commodity, that is to say, until well into the beginning of the sixteenth century, a map showing the places where printers had settled down is virtually identical with a map showing the places where any commercial firm would have set up an agency."

Taken from '500 years of printing' by S. H. Steinberg.