This left the letters raised, as the letters are in books
now printed for the blind.
The block was now ready to be used. The letters were inked, paper
was laid upon them and pressed down.
With blocks the printer could make copies of a book a great deal
faster than a man could write them by hand. But the making of the
blocks took a long time, and each block would print only one page.
Gutenberg enjoyed reading the manuscripts and block books that his
parents and their wealthy friends had; and he often said it was a
pity that only rich people could own books. Finally he determined
to contrive some easy and quick way of printing.
He did a great deal of his work in secret, for he thought it was
much better that his neighbors should know nothing of what he was
doing.
So he looked for a workshop where no one would be likely to find
him. He was now living in Strasburg, and there was in that city a
ruined old building where, long before his time, a number of monks
had lived. There was one room of the building which needed only a
little repairing to make it fit to be used. So Gutenberg got the
right to repair that room and use it as his workshop.
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