Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A material culture study focused on the importance of books as objects from the Middle Ages to present. Looks beyond content of books to other properties such as printing, binding, and annotation. Over 140 full-color illustrations, bibliography, and index. Revised edition includes new text and images"--

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

The digital age has brought the prospect of the world's texts being available at the click of a mouse. Whether this will be realizable or not remains to be seen, but most prognosticators assume that it will be so. Where this leaves the usefulness of physical books thus becomes a matter of some urgency, and in this context Pearson (Univ. of London) offers one answer: the consideration of books as historical artifacts. Books as History introduces readers to some of the many ways that books can speak to people beyond their texts. Chapters are devoted to design, production, ownership, binding, and library collections. Also included is a section on future library policies, along with a case study of copy variation, in this case Francis Bacon's Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh (1622). The whole effort is richly illustrated with the kind of superlative examples that one might imagine at the command of a London bookman at the top of his game. Books as History is an absolute must for all libraries supporting information science or the study of book history. Schools with strong liberal arts programs will want to add this to their collections as well. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. P. L. Holmer Southern Connecticut State University