John Milton must have been extremely wealthy. He was writing on the margins of that book, printed in 1587. These books were not manuscripts, so not as expensive as the books before Gutenberg, but still.
Some years ago I did some volunteer work where I had to go through some thousands of old books at a library and find the valuable ones. I came to the conclusion that around 1850 there was a "phase change" in printing. You could tell the books before 1850, they were works of love. After 1850, I think mass printing took off, or something, but you can feel books were not luxury items anymore.
In any case, this gentleman here has in his possession a book before 1600, and he writes on its margins. Maybe this was a form of conspicuous consumption. But just look how gorgeous that book was. And the guy just scribbled some stuff on it.
Some years ago I did some volunteer work where I had to go through some thousands of old books at a library and find the valuable ones. I came to the conclusion that around 1850 there was a "phase change" in printing. You could tell the books before 1850, they were works of love. After 1850, I think mass printing took off, or something, but you can feel books were not luxury items anymore.
In any case, this gentleman here has in his possession a book before 1600, and he writes on its margins. Maybe this was a form of conspicuous consumption. But just look how gorgeous that book was. And the guy just scribbled some stuff on it.