Before the printing press books were handmade. Manuscript hunters scoured the ancient world for the booksellers, scribes spent many hours copying ancient works, and miniaturists created the artwork. These books were very expensive, but they were collected by Europe's royalty who were establishing magnificent libraries. Vespaciano was a Florence bookseller who hired the manuscript hunters and sold books to those who could pay. He was very successful until printing presses allowed books to be produced more cheaply. Now we run to the local bookstore and have a choice of hundreds, or thousands of books. But before the printing press, it tooks weeks or months to complete one book. We have Vespaciano and others like him who preserved the writings of the ancients to thank so we can enjoy them today!
