before people who even got books had to be pretty wealthy bc they were done by monks (mainly) and they were done by hand the boks were known as illuminated manuscripts, once the printing press came around books and ideas were getting around to the common man and to farther places than before and example of this would be martin luther and his 95 thesis, the printing press helped to spread his beliefs all around germany and to other countries if it wouldnt have been for the printing press who know if his movement(the reformation) would have gone on for as long as it did or would have been as popular as it was)
The printing press automated the printing of books, which allowed them to be produced quickly and in large numbers. Prior to the printing press, books had to be copied individually by hand.
well basically the main thing being printed was the bible, and it was written by hand, many times by monks.
