The list of women printers and publishers before 1800 include women active as printers or publishers prior to the 19th century. Before the printing press was invented, books were made from pages written by scribes, and it could take up to a year or two for a book to be completed. Books were a luxury mainly for religious scholars and the upper class. Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press around 1450, which allowed for mass production of books. Having books become more widely available meant that the masses had access to information that they might not get otherwise, but threatened the authority of the state. Some printers had their works censored and may have been jailed for disseminating information of which the state did not approve.