Books Before Print

This beautifully illustrated book provides an accessible introduction to the medieval manuscript and explores how its materiality can act as a vibrant and versatile tool to understand the deep historical roots of human interaction with written information.

This engaging book presents a new chapter in paper's history: how its use in Islamic lands during the Middle Ages influenced almost every aspect of medieval life. The text and illustrations (of papermaking techniques and the many uses to which paper was put) give new luster and importance to a now-humble material. 100+ illustrations.

A comprehensive resource to understanding the hand-press printing of early books Studying Early Printed Books, 1450 - 1800 offers a guide to the fascinating process of how books were printed in the first centuries of the press and shows how the mechanics of making books shapes how we read and understand them. The author offers an insightful overview of how books were made in the hand-press period and then includes an in-depth review of the specific aspects of the printing process. She addresses questions such as: How was paper made? What were different book formats? How did the press work? In addition, the text is filled with illustrative examples that demonstrate how understanding the early processes can be helpful to today’s researchers. Studying Early Printed Books shows the connections between the material form of a book (what it looks like and how it was made), how a book conveys its meaning and how it is used by readers. The author helps readers navigate books by explaining how to tell which parts of a book are the result of early printing practices and which are a result of later changes. The text also offers guidance on: how to approach a book; how to read a catalog record; the difference between using digital facsimiles and books in-hand. This important guide: Reveals how books were made with the advent of the printing press and how they are understood today Offers information on how to use digital reproductions of early printed books as well as how to work in a rare books library Contains a useful glossary and a detailed list of recommended readings Includes a companion website for further research Written for students of book history, materiality of text and history of information, Studying Early Printed Books explores the many aspects of the early printing process of books and explains how their form is understood today.

A landmark publication--beautifully illustrated with over 300 prints from the British Museum's renowned collection--which traces the history of printmaking from its earliest days until the arrival of photography.

The Fine Print of Self-Publishing (Fourth Edition) offers a comprehensive guide to the self-publishing world, and is a must-read for any author considering self-publishing his or her book.

The discovery of seven manuscript fragments of the Old French Suite Vulgate du Merlin in a set of early printed books in the Bristol Central Library hit global headlines in 2019. This book contains a comprehensive study of these fascinating Arthurian fragments. Beginning with an extensive contextual history, the authors reveal details of the fragments' origin, their importation to England, and their subsequent journey to a waste pile in a bookbinder's workshop, where they would be incorporated into the bindings of a four-volume edition of the works of Jean Gerson in the early sixteenth century. A full enquiry into the provenance of these host volumes sets out the possible routes from the bookbinder's workshop to their final home in Bristol Central Library. Using multi-spectral imaging to read the damaged sections of text, the authors also provide a full edition and translation of the narrative contained in the fragments.

This book critically evaluates the prevailing idea that north-west European migration was central to the transformation from post-Roman to 'Anglo-Saxon' society in Britain, and explores the increasing evidence for more evolutionary change.