<p>Usually, it is assumed that the printing revolution initiated in Europe by Gutenberg from 1445 was implemented directly and smoothly for the production of mathematics textbooks. This paper undertakes to investigate this process more closely, showing it to form the precondition for ensuing curricular developments. The characteristics of the first mathematics books printed in Europe are studied regarding their printing styles and compared, in particular, with the traditional manuscript mode. Rather than a radical rupture, it is revealed that the first printers tried to show continuity for typical manuscript styles. Both principal types of mathematics textbooks of the Middle Ages – commercial arithmetic and scientific – are investigated. In an additional, comparative part, the paper discusses the analogous process of implementation of printing in Islamic civilisation, where reproduction by manuscript copies has been maintained for a longer period. It was textbooks for teaching that eventually launched printing there.</p>