The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book

Fascinating. Mainly academic approach to the history of the book. It may be somewhat dry to readers who are used to heavily illustrated books. I'm not sure if this is the way all books are being printed now in the digital age, or for monographs of limited audience, but I was disappointed that the book itself is not as substantial in size as I am used to from Oxford U Press. At over 400 pages it is printed on thin silky paper stock. It is no more than an inch thick. While pleasant to the touch, I do not know how the pages will hold up to repeated use. It is as thin as magazine pages, if not thinner and will surely crumple. Just wish that this book was printed on heavier stock, it would have been more impressive in a more traditional binding. It deserves it.

As a life long bibliophile I thought this book was a must have. The external appearance of the book is great; quite appropriate dust jacket. But it went too deep into the early concepts of what a book is and not at all much into the middle life of books, the hay day of pulps, nor the future of books in the light of tablets.Disappointed.

Hoping the editing improves as I progress in the book. Sentences such as “But we must be careful to define our terms carefully...” and “Originally farmers on the Missouri shores of Lake Superior...” in the first 51 pages do not inspire confidence .

I like the book, I think the author did not showed a complete picture in regards to the pre-Columbia’s codex and posterior lienzos.

Disportionate amount on the book trade

I looked forward to seeing this book given the stellar cast of academic contributors and the subject matter. In the end, much as I tried, I was left wondering who the target audience was and what the overall intent of the book was. It covers a huge swath of bibliographic history in erudite detail but the inevitable area of greatest interest is now and whether there is a future for the book as a physical entity in the age of the computer.As one who has not and probably will not find satisfaction in virtual ebooks, I would have thought this question was worthy of more detailed coverage than it was given. In an age where hardbacks are often printed on newsprint and where mass production binding results in books that fall apart during their first reading, some mention of the production standards still evident at Steidel (the standard!), the LoA , Everyman's Library, DK, Europa Editions and Taschen should have merited at least passing comment.As an illustrated book, this volume also has some major limitations as to the value of the inconsistently used figures that have limited value as compared to their didactic use in the Smithsonian Book of Books from the 90s. In the latter, the image predominates in actually illustrating (!) a point for the reader. In contrast, in the Oxford volume, a poorly photographed and printed figure lacking in clarity and specific utility is often used with a couple of lines of legend that illustrates very little such that the "Illustrated' in the title the present appears to be an afterthought. As to design in this monograph - there is none.

This is not a coffee table book, not only because it is much smaller in size than the usual coffee table book, but it is written with depth and purpose by various writers who are all renowned historians in their field. The title is on the history of the book, but there are illuminating chapters on peripheral and related topics such as 'Managing Information', by Ann Blair from Harvard University. Blair writes about the growth in the number and size of books through the ages. She discusses the forming of significant libraries by the elites, and the creation of the catalogue, notably, Gessner's Bibliotheca. This is surely a book that must be included in the library of all bibliophile.

A bit sparse on illustrations despite the promise on the title. However it is a good read.

Top quality design and illustrations. Beautiful First Editions!

Es un libro formado por una conjunto de ensayos escritos por distintos especialistas en las materias, cuyo fin es mostrar la evolución y el desarrollo del libro según las diferentes épocas y geografías. Dividido en capítulos trata el desarrollo del libro en Occidente, partiendo del mundo antiguo, la época medieval, la ilustración, la época actual, pero, también, y este es uno de sus puntos más atrayentes, trata del desarrollo del libro en Asia: China, Japón y Corea, India, el mundo islámico, Bizancio y el mundo precolombino, entre otros. Argumentado y razonado intentan esclarecer como el libro se desarrolló y evolucionó respondiendo a condicionantes económicos, culturales o educativos, con coincidencias entre regiones que no tenían contacto entre sí.Es uno de los libros más completos sobre la historia del libro que existen, con abundante información y referencias. Además, la versión kindle está muy conseguida, es de gran calidad, se pueden observar las ilustraciones que los autores han tomado como ejemplos, también, en el dispositivo del ordenador. Está genial. Sin duda es muy recomendable.

This important book is a must for all friends of books. It shows how the book has developed from early forms to the book of today.I can warmly recommend it.