A Field Guide to Book History - Researching the Material Book

As book historians will attest, students are usually surprised to learn that a book-s container can matter deeply when it comes to understanding the value placed on it by the work-s original readers. A Field Guide to Book History provides students and researchers new to the field the information and interpretive skills necessary for the material study of the book. Focusing on books published in England and America from the end of the eighteenth century to the present, Ann R. Hawkins and Maura Ives trace the complex transition from handmade to machine-made objects. They begin with an overview of theories of the book and book production, followed by an introduction to the parts of the book (Just what is a fore-edge?) and its common features. Explanations of the intricacies of book production assist researchers to think fully about the historical, cultural, and sociological context of the artifact under examination, while discussions of marginalia, inscriptions, and other signs of ownersh