Name: The Book: A Cover-To-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time
ISBN: 9781324086352

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The Book: A Cover-To-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

Keith Houston

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In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today.

Book Details

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publish Date: Apr 29th, 2025
Pages: 448
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 8.40in - 5.60in - 1.20in - 1.10lb
EAN: 9781324086352
Categories: • World - General• Book Printing & Binding• History & Criticism

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About the Author

Houston, Keith: - Keith Houston is the author of Face with Tears of Joy, Empire of the Sum, Shady Characters, and The Book. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and on Mental Floss, BBC Culture, and Literary Hub. He lives in Linlithgow, Scotland.

More books by Keith Houston

Book Cover for: Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji, Keith Houston

Book Cover for: Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks, Keith Houston

Book Cover for: Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator, Keith Houston

What people are saying

Canongate

@canongatebooks

3 years

Publisher. Fiercely independent for fifty years.

🚨MAJOR EVENT NEWS🚨 Giddy with joy to announce an *unmissable* transatlantic fiesta of fiction: Man Booker-shortlisted authors @david_mitchell and Ruth Ozeki (@ozekiland) in conversation about #TheBook. 2nd October, 6pm GMT. Tickets via @Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/events/ruth-ozeki-in-conversation-with-david-mitchell/online-events https://t.co/XY3xNcYrCa

Reviewer, Bibliophile 📚📚📚 A Mythology Obsessor Mysterious Suspense Thrillers Reader

Hello I shared my views and thoughts on "The Book of form and Emptiness" by Ruth Ozeki It's a Must-read. Its inspirational and Motivational . Have you read it ? Check out my review : https://www.instagram.com/p/CVifiZHPu65/?utm_medium=copy_link #thebookofformandhapiness #selfhelp #inspiration #motivation #Book https://t.co/TOH5aXJIV8

Newest book: BITSTREAMS: THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL LITERARY HERITAGE, @PennPress (2021). @UMDEnglish and @UMD_BookLab. Tweets are in my own personal capacity.

@natmcgartland @atrubek (Or if it’s more book history, Keith Houston’s THE BOOK.)

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Praise for this book

Splendidly comprehensive and tactile.--Russell Leadbetter "The Herald"

Everybody who has ever read a book will benefit from the way Keith Houston explores the most powerful object of our time. And everybody who has read it will agree that reports of the book's death have been greatly exaggerated.--Erik Spiekermann, Professor at University of the Arts Bremen

A lovingly designed and illustrated deep history of the book.--John Williams "New York Times"

Mr. Houston savors evocative detail...As befits its subject, The Book is pleasingly designed--with an offbeat self-consciousness about its sturdy appearance--and Mr. Houston's unapologetic nerdiness is matched by a jaunty style...Mr. Houston is an eager, affable guide, and his detailed history is a welcome reminder that this 'unrepentantly analog contraption' is one of the truly great pieces of technology.--Henry Hitchings "Wall Street Journal"

[A] masterful and overwhelmingly entertaining volume, both an homage to the book and one itself to be cherished by readers everywhere.--Clea Simon "The Boston Globe"

Keith Houston's deft history of the object wraps entire civilizations into the telling, propelling us through the evolution of writing, printing, binding and illustration with gusto.--Barbara Kiser, books and arts editor of Nature magazine

If you love books, love the feel of a book in your hands, the heft and smell, the swish of a turned page and the satisfying thump of the cover -- and you must or you wouldn't be reading this -- have I got the book for you...The bookiest of books...Houston...writes with zest. He's an enthusiast if not an obsessive, with a voracious appetite for details, from the daily grind in a medieval scriptorium to the intricate workings of a modern offset press...The Book is nothing if not user-friendly.--Bill Marvel "Dallas Morning News"

Invitingly tactile...Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-color illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity's most important--and universal--information technology.-- "Book Reporter"

A love letter to the physical book, this is a fascinating and erudite telling of how it came into being...Hugely enlightening.--Tory Lyne-Pirkis "The Yorkshire Post"

We bibliomaniacs have a soulmate in Keith Houston...riveting.--Alan Taylor "Scottish Review of Books"

Savor this deeply researched love letter to every bibliophiles favorite thing...a scholarly and light-hearted review of everything you want to know on the origins of the written language, the media upon which it is captured, and its methods of illustration, reproduction, and distribution.--Jennifer Bort Yacovissi "Washington Independent Review of Books"

This witty and mischievous tome traces the evolution from papyrus to paperback in 448 pages. It's an optimistic ode to one of mankind's greatest inventions, which continues to thrive even against the onslaught of e-readers.-- "The Monocle Minute"

Erudite, playful, and illuminating...Houston is both witty and intensely detailed, thus appealing both to general readers and to bibliophiles who will wish to know the specifics of making papyrus, of stitching together pages, and of learning how we arrived at today's paper sizes...A splendid, challenging mixture of information and fun.-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

Houston's fixation with this object is a delight, and his understanding of how history is written and his clear delineation between speculation and established fact are very refreshing.-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

This engaging volume should satisfy a wide cross-section of book lovers, history buffs, and those interested in the dynamic relationship among language, the written word, and human ingenuity.--Rebecca Brody "Library Journal"

What people are saying

Canongate

@canongatebooks

3 years

Publisher. Fiercely independent for fifty years.

Reviewer, Bibliophile 📚📚📚 A Mythology Obsessor Mysterious Suspense Thrillers Reader

twitter.com