Publication

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2020

Author

Raven, James

Number of Pages

xxxvi; 431

Language

English

Publication Year

2020

Original Language

English

Categories and Tags

Hardcover, Dust Jacket, Books

Dewey Subjects

Biography and History > Computing and Information > History of the book > History of the book — Subdivisions > Information

About

In 14 original essays, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book reveals the history of books in various forms, from the ancient world to the digital present. Leading international scholars offer an original and richly illustrated narrative that is global in scope.

The history of the book is the history of millions of written, printed, and illustrated texts, their manufacture, distribution, and reception. Here are different types of production, from clay tablets to scrolls, from inscribed codices to printed books, pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers, and from written parchment to digital texts. The book is a history of different methods of circulation and dissemination, all dependent on innovations in transport, from coastal and transoceanic shipping to roads, trains, planes and the internet. It is a history of different modes of reading and reception, from learned debate and individual study to public instruction and entertainment. It is a history of manufacture, craftsmanship, dissemination, reading and debate.

Yet the history of books is not simply a question of material form, nor indeed of the history of reading and reception. The larger question is of the effect of textual production, distribution and reception – of how books made history. To this end, each chapter of this volume, succinctly bounded by period and geography, offers incisive and stimulating insights into the relationship between books and the story of their times.

Location

bu148