Why did the woodblock method become popular in Europe?
1. Production of handwritten manuscripts could not meet the ever increasing demand for books.
2. Copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming business.
3. The manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle and could not be carried around or read easily.
4. By the early 15th century, woodblocks started being widely used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards and religious pictures with simple, brief texts.
