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David Pearson

Books as History: The Importance of Books Beyond Their Text Hardcover – Illustrated, 30 Sept. 2008

by David Pearson (Author)

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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 on paper, the landscape is changing all the time, with more and more of the traditional functions of books being performed electronically. People usually think of books in terms of their contents, their texts, with less thought for books as artefacts. In fact books may possess all kinds of potentially interesting qualities beyond their texts, as designed or artistic objects, or because they have unique properties deriving from the ways they have been printed, bound, annotated, beautified or defaced.David Pearson explores these themes and uses many examples of books from the Middle Ages to the present day to show why books may be interesting beyond their texts. As the format of the book becomes history - as texts are increasingly communicated electronically - we can recognise that books are also history in another, significant way. Books can develop their own individual histories, which provide important evidence about the way they were used and regarded in the past, and which make them an indispensable part of the fabric of our cultural heritage. This book will raise awareness of an important aspect of the life of books in the context of the ongoing debate about their future. Extensively illustrated with a wide range of images, it will not only be approachable but also thought-provoking.

Print length

208 pages
Language

English
Publisher

British Library Publishing Division
Publication date

30 Sept. 2008
Dimensions

2.54 x 19.69 x 26.04 cm
ISBN-10

0712349235
ISBN-13

978-0712349239
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Mary Wellesley
97
Paperback
33 offers from £5.07

Product description

Review

a joy to read --Jane Wickenden, Rare Books News, 85

About the Author

David Pearson is Director of the University of London Research Library Services, with extensive experience of managing and working in major research collections. He is also a respected scholar in the field of book history, whose articles and books (including Provenance research in book history, 1994, Oxford bookbinding 1500-1640, 2000, and English bookbinding styles 1450-1800: a handbook, 2005) have focussed on various aspects of the ownership and binding of books.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ British Library Publishing Division (30 Sept. 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0712349235
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0712349239
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 2.54 x 19.69 x 26.04 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 2,115,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 2,508 in Books & Reading (Books)
- 6,520 in Historic Origins of World War II
- 79,069 in Social & Cultural History

Customer reviews:
4.0 13 ratings

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David Pearson

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I was a librarian by profession and worked in numerous places, mostly in London, from the 1980s onwards - the British Library, the National Art Library, the Wellcome Library, Senate House Library. I was Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries for the City of London Corporation, and retired from that post in 2017. My books are about books, not books as words but books as things that people have owned, written in, done things to, to make objects that have histories in their own right. This was the theme of "Books as History" but I have also written more specialised books on the history of book ownership, and bookbinding, and how to recognise the evidence of these things. In a digital age, I think it's important to forge ahead with online reading, but also see that books may have all kinds of other qualities, beyond just texts, that give them lasting cultural value.

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Holly48

Fascinating Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 21 May 2013

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Have only had time to dip into this comprehensive book, but it looks to be a fascinating read. Good illustrations, clear writing, impressive research .... would thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in the book as an object.

2 people found this helpful

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C. C. H. Knight

you'll never look at an old book in the same way again!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 29 May 2018

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superb publication - as an antiquarian book lover every page was music to my eyes. Loads of fascinating detail and great illustrations

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 9 May 2010

Verified Purchase

One of the best books on books Ive read, I read it in one day and came away knowing more about publishing and how books work than I believed possible. the format is an easy read and packed with beautiful illustrations and photographs. A must for book lovers!

One person found this helpful

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Roderick Cave

Importance of books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 2 February 2013

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Intelligent, and very well illustrated survey, important for those who don't see the point of hard-copy books for the future

2 people found this helpful

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Rosemary F.

Why old books (and multiple copies of the same old books) matter

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 13 December 2009

In this age of the mass digitization of books, why should we bother to keep the originals, especially when multiple copies of the same text exist? Pearson's argument is utterly convincing: each book is an artefact in its own right and no two copies of the same book will have had the same history. The evidence for the history of a particular book and how its readers used it is right there in the book itself, if you examine it carefully. The style in which a book is bound can relect the status of its owner, or indicate its perceived value. The margins of another copy may be covered with scribbled comments, references to other works, or doodles and pen trials - past generations were not as squeamish about keeping their books pristine, and writing paper was expensive and often in short supply.

The book is lavishly illustrated with superb colour photographs of old (not necessarily rare) books and their bindings. It's worth remembering that until the mid-19th-century, almost everything about a book was handmade, from the paper itself, the handset type and the binding: each book from this "hand-press" period can be regarded as unique product of several skilled crafts.

If you are interested in any aspect of books or history, or if you work for Google (and that's just about everyone), you should read and treasure this lovely book. Don't be put off by the boring-looking cover, it's gorgeous inside.

3 people found this helpful

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harrie999

a rebuttal ...................

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 2 January 2012

David Pearson is a fabulous writer and so knowledgeable around his subject area. I felt moved to reply to the nonsense review by Zenkoji ... this is a beautiful book looking at the total history of books- bindings, production,printing presses, annotations to books, owners bookplates and a fascinating case study of a Francis Bacon book. Anyone who knows anything about Mr Pearson is that he looks at the process of book printing, ownership, binding etc as a subject of study in itself and is a renowned expert in this area. I do not have any problem with looking at fascinating author written annotations to their own books (Coleridge) in full colour (as most in this quality book) as it gives 'scholars a fascinating insight into Coleridges ideas'. The work that has been done around annotations in antiquarian books has led to exciting developments in historical social history around book ownership/ patterns of distribution and personal atttitudes. As a collector of antiquarian books some of the bits I most treasure around my books is the personal script, signatures from 200+ years ago. Mr Pearson recognises this and it is not a call in defence of books with 'highlighter pen' which is a modern phenomenon(obviously) and misses the point amazingly. The photograph of the Nazi bookburning does not need the accompanying quote- the picture is horrific enough. The text is not 'thin and listless'- this is a lavish and well written book and to be regarded as a great introduction to Mr Pearsons work. If you want academic then look up 'Provenance Research in Book History' by Mr pearson- 326 pages dense with insight, history, quality and academic knowledge about the book as historical object- It really is that simple. Thank you Mr pearson once again for another fabulous book that serious book collectors will treasure- beautifuly produced and printed-amazing high resolution photographs of books (in colour) and a fantastic introduction to a fascinating developing area of antiquarian book collecting. Oh, I looked up Larry McMurtry's book- try Nicholas Brisbane for a life lived as a book collector and enthusiast- Mr Pearsons book was never going to be a book about photographs of shelves full of books nor pictures of specialist antiquarian bookshops- This book is availiable elsewhere and if caustic is your thing search out any 'Driffs Guides'- Mr Pearson is an academic who specialises in a specific area of book collecting/analysis and has broadened this area immensley and with the above 'Books as History' you have a beautiful introduction to this specialised fascinating area. I have all his published books and treasure them all as a serious collector- Thank you David pearson.

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Books as History: The Importance of Books Beyond Their Text Hardcover – Illustrated, 30 Sept. 2008

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