More specifically concerning: book history
Old Books and New Histories
Leslie Howsam. Old Books and New Histories. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. This is an introductory ‘state of the discipline’ textbook suitable for undergraduates or first-year graduate students. It gives a brief overview of what is involved in studying ‘book history’, as well as current theories and controversies. From the preface: These approaches are […]
An Undisciplined Discipline?
Cyndia Clegg, Renaissance Quarterly (2001): A dispassionate, professional review article on a selection of books relating to books, literacy, and print culture in the Renaissance…
The Printing Revolution
Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: CUP, 1983. This is an abridgment – intended for the general reader – of Eisenstein’s longer monograph The Printing Press as an Agent of Change; it suffers from some of the faults of ‘popular’ history: no footnotes, inadequate references, and a certain condescension on […]
Life Story of a Technology
Nicole Howard. The Book: The Life Story of a Technology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2009 (2005). This is a solid introductory text about book history, primarily from a technological standpoint, including some information on supporting technologies such as paper. It divides book history into six periods, centering on the development of print. Much of the […]
A Publisher Speaking
Geoffrey Faber. A Publisher Speaking. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1935 (1934). A Publisher Speaking is a collection of five talks about the book industry given to various audiences between 1931 and 1934 by Geoffrey Faber, the founder of Faber and Faber. The contents of the volume are as follows: On Bookselling (i): A Publisher Looks at […]