Well OBVIOUSLY Guttenberg was just the only idealist of his time, and wanted to save paper. He predicted that if he saved the trees now, there would be more for the killin' later =D.
just kidding, obviously. Good luck with your research!
That is the standard academic interpretation, actually. But given the number of books produced and how they were produced, the amount of paper saved was economically insignificant. Especially given that the "paper" used at the time wasn't made from trees but old clothing (underwear, if you believe sensationalistic historians). Also, after attempting to "save" paper in this manner, he increased the print run number, thereby requiring even more paper.
Why he did this is terribly interesting, but in an entirely inconsequential way. It is trivia at its best, and nothing more. Unfortunately, that is what much of academia has become and one must follow the trend of ridiculous specialization in order to get accepted.
Y'know, another thought occurs to me: when I first read the name 'Guttenburg', my first reaction was to think of Steve Guttenburg and the Police Academy movies. How sad is that? 
I blame our education system, really. History tends to be terribly boring (as my research paper helps illustrate), but it doesn't have to be. That you could here "Guttenberg" and not think "Johanesse" is merely an indication that history instructors have failed you.
