Paperback, 208 pages
English language
Published Jan. 1, 2011 by The British Library and Oak Knoll Press.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-7123-5832-3
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3 stars
(1 review)
Books have been hugely important in human civilisation, as instruments for communicating information and ideas. The digital age is challenging their ongoing existence — although the e‐book has not yet taken over from print, the landscape is changing all the time, with the traditional function of books increasingly carried out electronically.
People usually think of books in terms of their contents, their texts, with less thought for them as artefacts. In fact books possess all kinds of potentially interesting qualities beyond words — as artistic objects, or because they have unique properties associated with the way they have been printed, bound, annotated, beautified or defaced. Here, books from the Middle Ages to the present day are explored to show why they may be interesting beyond their texts. Books develop their own individual histories, which become part of our cultural heritage.
Books as History highlights an important aspect of the life …
Books have been hugely important in human civilisation, as instruments for communicating information and ideas. The digital age is challenging their ongoing existence — although the e‐book has not yet taken over from print, the landscape is changing all the time, with the traditional function of books increasingly carried out electronically.
People usually think of books in terms of their contents, their texts, with less thought for them as artefacts. In fact books possess all kinds of potentially interesting qualities beyond words — as artistic objects, or because they have unique properties associated with the way they have been printed, bound, annotated, beautified or defaced. Here, books from the Middle Ages to the present day are explored to show why they may be interesting beyond their texts. Books develop their own individual histories, which become part of our cultural heritage.
Books as History highlights an important aspect of the life of books in the context of the ongoing debate about their future. Extensively illustrated, it is both approachable and thought‐provoking. First published in 2008, this new edition has been revised and updated, to recognise the way the world of books is changing.
