Why did the production of handwritten manuscripts not satisfy the demand for books?
Manuscript is the original copy of a play, book or music before it has been printed. It is written by hand or typed.The production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever increasing demand for books.
Three shortcomings of manuscript are
(i) Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle and could not be carried around or read easily.
(ii) Copying was an expensive, laborious and time consuming business.
(iii) Their circulation therefore remained limited. This could not satisfy the increasing demand for books.