Printed book production in Europe by half-century and region 1454-1800

The invention of the Gutenberg printing press in the 1440s is considered one of the most important inventions in human history. Prior to its creation, the vast majority of texts were written by hand (although block printing was a common method used in East Asia), however the onset of the printing revolution in the 15^th century saw the number of books produced increase significantly. For example, in Europe, it is estimated that fewer than five million hand written manuscripts were produced in the 15^th century, whereas more than 200 million printed books were produced in the 16^th century, and this number rose to almost one billion books in the 18^th century. While the printing press was invented in Germany, it was France where the largest number of books were printed in most of the given periods, followed by Britain and Ireland.