The Book by Design
The Remarkable Story of the World’s Greatest Invention
9780226824093
9780226824109
The Book by Design
The Remarkable Story of the World’s Greatest Invention
A richly illustrated look at some of the British Library’s most beautiful books from around the world.
For centuries across the world, books have been created as objects of beauty, with bookmakers lavishing great care on their paper, binding materials, illustrations, and lettering.
The Book by Design, featuring an array of books from the British Library's collection, focuses on the sensory experience of holding and reading these objects. Each selection represents a specific moment in the development of what we know today as the book—from scrolls and bound illuminated manuscripts to paperbacks and formatted digital information. These range from the seventh century to the present and include examples from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America, in addition to a look at book traditions in Africa and Oceania. John James Audubon’s Birds of America, the works of Chaucer, Russian Futurist books, limited editions, historic copies of the Qur’an and the Bible, mass-market paperbacks, and more come together to tell the visual, tactile, artistic, and cultural history of books.
Expert curators and specialists explore these books from the perspective of design and manufacturing, original art photographs offer vivid representations of their textures and materials, and graphics detail the size and specifications of each book. Offering a wide-ranging look at the creation and use of books, illustrated with hundreds of color images, this volume is itself an object of beauty.
For centuries across the world, books have been created as objects of beauty, with bookmakers lavishing great care on their paper, binding materials, illustrations, and lettering.
The Book by Design, featuring an array of books from the British Library's collection, focuses on the sensory experience of holding and reading these objects. Each selection represents a specific moment in the development of what we know today as the book—from scrolls and bound illuminated manuscripts to paperbacks and formatted digital information. These range from the seventh century to the present and include examples from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America, in addition to a look at book traditions in Africa and Oceania. John James Audubon’s Birds of America, the works of Chaucer, Russian Futurist books, limited editions, historic copies of the Qur’an and the Bible, mass-market paperbacks, and more come together to tell the visual, tactile, artistic, and cultural history of books.
Expert curators and specialists explore these books from the perspective of design and manufacturing, original art photographs offer vivid representations of their textures and materials, and graphics detail the size and specifications of each book. Offering a wide-ranging look at the creation and use of books, illustrated with hundreds of color images, this volume is itself an object of beauty.
288 pages | 200 color plates | 8 1/4 x 10 1/2 | © 2023
History: General History
Library Science and Publishing: Publishing
Table of Contents
The Contributors
Introduction
I. THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS, by Eleanor Jackson
Feature: ETHIOPIA, AFRICAN SCRIBES AND THE ILLUSTRATED APOCALYPSE, by Eyob Derillo
II. THE DIAMOND SUTRA PRINTED IN 868, by Mélodie Doumy
Feature: THE DEVELOPMENT OF PAPER, by Lucy Vinten
III. THE ARNSTEIN BIBLE, by Kathleen Doyle
Feature: KING HENRY VIII’S COPY OF THE ‘GREAT BIBLE,’ by Karen Limper-Herz
IV. THE GOLDEN HAGGADAH, by Ilana Tahan
V. THE QUEEN MARY PSALTER, by Kathleen Doyle
Feature: THE HARMONIES OF LITTLE GIDDING, by Felicity Myrone
VI. THE MAINZ PSALTER OF 1457, by Adrian S. Edwards
VII. HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIPHILI, by Stephen Parkin
Feature: BODONI’S MANUALE TIPOGRAFICO AND HIS FOLLOWERS, by Valentina Mirabella
VIII. AKBAR’S KHAMSAH OF NIZAMI, by Ursula Sims-Williams
IX. THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO OF 1623, by Adrian S. Edwards
Feature: THE TITLE PAGE AND OTHER PARATEXTS, by Stephen Parkin
X. EXCERPTS FROM THE TALE OF GENJI, by Hamish Todd
Feature: A MODERN MESOAMERICAN CODEX, by Mercedes Aguirre
XI. WILLIAM LEIGHTON’S THE TEARES OR LAMENTACIONS OF A SORROWFULL SOULE, by James Ritzema and Christopher Scobie
Feature: THE DESIGN OF HUMAN ATLASES, by Sophie Defrance
XII. A DESCRIPTION OF THREE HUNDRED ANIMALS, by Lucy Evans
Feature: MINIATURE BOOKS: THEIR CHARM AND PURPOSE by Helen Peden and Annalisa Ricciardi
XIII. A QUR’AN FROM ACEH, by Annabel Teh Gallop
XIV. OWEN JONES’S THE GRAMMAR OF ORNAMENT, by Edmund M. B. King
Feature: AMERICAN PUBLISHERS’ BINDINGS, NINETEENTH CENTURY, by Edmund M. B. King
XV. THE BUDDHA’S LAST BIRTH TALE, by Jana Igunma
Feature: A MATERIAL IDENTITY IN OCEANIA BOOK DESIGN, by Lucy Rowland
XVI. AUDUBON’S THE BIRDS OF AMERICA, by Felicity Myrone
Feature: ‘AN ERROR OF TASTE’: SMITHERS, BEARDSLEY AND THE SAVOY, by Alex Kither
XVII. THE WORKS OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER, by Helen Peden
Feature: TWENTIETH-CENTURY TYPEFACES, by Philip Parker
XVIII. SADOK SUDEI AND OTHER FUTURIST BOOKS FROM RUSSIA, by Ekaterina Rogatchevskaia
Feature: CARTONERA BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS, by Iris Bachmann and Annalisa Ricciardi
XIX. CENTURY, by Philip Parker
Feature: PENGUIN BOOKS AND THE PAPERBACK REVOLUTION, by Philip Parker
XX. SEA AIR, by Jeremy Jenkins
Feature: WOMEN PUBLISHERS AND DESIGNERS, by Alexandra Pringle
XXI. EDITIONS AT PLAY, by Giulia Carla Rossi
Feature: BOOK DESIGN AS AN AGENT OF CONSERVATION, by Katie McElvanney
Epilogue
Glossary
Notes
Further Reading
Index
Credits
QR Codes
Introduction
I. THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS, by Eleanor Jackson
Feature: ETHIOPIA, AFRICAN SCRIBES AND THE ILLUSTRATED APOCALYPSE, by Eyob Derillo
II. THE DIAMOND SUTRA PRINTED IN 868, by Mélodie Doumy
Feature: THE DEVELOPMENT OF PAPER, by Lucy Vinten
III. THE ARNSTEIN BIBLE, by Kathleen Doyle
Feature: KING HENRY VIII’S COPY OF THE ‘GREAT BIBLE,’ by Karen Limper-Herz
IV. THE GOLDEN HAGGADAH, by Ilana Tahan
V. THE QUEEN MARY PSALTER, by Kathleen Doyle
Feature: THE HARMONIES OF LITTLE GIDDING, by Felicity Myrone
VI. THE MAINZ PSALTER OF 1457, by Adrian S. Edwards
VII. HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIPHILI, by Stephen Parkin
Feature: BODONI’S MANUALE TIPOGRAFICO AND HIS FOLLOWERS, by Valentina Mirabella
VIII. AKBAR’S KHAMSAH OF NIZAMI, by Ursula Sims-Williams
IX. THE SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO OF 1623, by Adrian S. Edwards
Feature: THE TITLE PAGE AND OTHER PARATEXTS, by Stephen Parkin
X. EXCERPTS FROM THE TALE OF GENJI, by Hamish Todd
Feature: A MODERN MESOAMERICAN CODEX, by Mercedes Aguirre
XI. WILLIAM LEIGHTON’S THE TEARES OR LAMENTACIONS OF A SORROWFULL SOULE, by James Ritzema and Christopher Scobie
Feature: THE DESIGN OF HUMAN ATLASES, by Sophie Defrance
XII. A DESCRIPTION OF THREE HUNDRED ANIMALS, by Lucy Evans
Feature: MINIATURE BOOKS: THEIR CHARM AND PURPOSE by Helen Peden and Annalisa Ricciardi
XIII. A QUR’AN FROM ACEH, by Annabel Teh Gallop
XIV. OWEN JONES’S THE GRAMMAR OF ORNAMENT, by Edmund M. B. King
Feature: AMERICAN PUBLISHERS’ BINDINGS, NINETEENTH CENTURY, by Edmund M. B. King
XV. THE BUDDHA’S LAST BIRTH TALE, by Jana Igunma
Feature: A MATERIAL IDENTITY IN OCEANIA BOOK DESIGN, by Lucy Rowland
XVI. AUDUBON’S THE BIRDS OF AMERICA, by Felicity Myrone
Feature: ‘AN ERROR OF TASTE’: SMITHERS, BEARDSLEY AND THE SAVOY, by Alex Kither
XVII. THE WORKS OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER, by Helen Peden
Feature: TWENTIETH-CENTURY TYPEFACES, by Philip Parker
XVIII. SADOK SUDEI AND OTHER FUTURIST BOOKS FROM RUSSIA, by Ekaterina Rogatchevskaia
Feature: CARTONERA BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS, by Iris Bachmann and Annalisa Ricciardi
XIX. CENTURY, by Philip Parker
Feature: PENGUIN BOOKS AND THE PAPERBACK REVOLUTION, by Philip Parker
XX. SEA AIR, by Jeremy Jenkins
Feature: WOMEN PUBLISHERS AND DESIGNERS, by Alexandra Pringle
XXI. EDITIONS AT PLAY, by Giulia Carla Rossi
Feature: BOOK DESIGN AS AN AGENT OF CONSERVATION, by Katie McElvanney
Epilogue
Glossary
Notes
Further Reading
Index
Credits
QR Codes
