Don’t you think a book is much more interesting if it has lots of pictures? Pictures or 
illustrations also make it easier to understand things. The manuscripts of ancient times which were decorated with elaborate initials, miniature illustrations and borders were called illuminated manuscripts. Sometimes, these decorations were even made with gold and silver!Very early printed books were sometimes produced with spaces left for miniatures, or were given illuminated initials or decorations in the margin. Illustrated printed books began to appear in the late 15th century, in Germany and Italy. In earlier times, some books had been published from woodcuts, with text and illustration all carved on a single block. Early type-printed books were illuminated by hand. However, this was very expensive. Although many early printed books, like the Gutenberg Bible, relied on hand-coloured illustrations, others quickly integrated the new printing, using moveable type for the letters, with the older woodcut traditions. Another early technique was etching, in which the lines of the picture were cut into a copper plate with acid. In either case, ink was spread over the carved illustration and applied to the paper
