ⒹFrom the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century
' Writing and Printing '
A dramatic interlude written for broadcasting by E. A. CRADDOCK
These broadcasts are meant to show you that what we call ' history ' does not deal only with great events and important people. If you know how to look, you can find ' history' in quite ordinary things, like newspapers, for instance, or food, or furniture; in fact, almost every subject you can think of has a special story of its own. The subjects for this year have been chosen both because they are interesting in themselves and because they have all helped in the making of the England that we know today.
You will hear this afternoon how books were produced in a monastery, and you will realise why they were so rare and costly. You will hear, too, how the discovery of the art of printing entirely changed men's ways of thinking about books. and made these so cheap that at last everybody might possess them.