Keith Houston

I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time, even before I picked up Houston’s Shady Characters a few years ago. Although I had more fun reading that one, I’m glad I finally got to this meticulously researched history of books.
This book has everything—every little detail about the history of the book. There are nearly 80 pages dedicated to the origin and development of paper, from papyrus to parchment to paper in its various forms. So many interesting facts, and I fear many of them will fall out of my head. For some reason the one that springs to mind as I write this is that paper used to be made from old rags. Weird, right?
So besides all the stuff about paper, there’s a lot on the evolution of writing, from cuneiform to typesetting; the history of illustration in books; and the structure of books, from scrolls to codex.
One of my favorite chapters was “Ties That Bind: binding the paged book.” It was neat, because I could look at the book in my hand and see what he was describing, even when he was talking about techniques dating back 1,000 years. So even though in some respects I wish I’d had this on kindle so I could have highlighted, I’m glad I had the hardcover. And not only so I could study the binding—the design of the book is really cool. Every part is labeled like it’s in a diagram, it has a nifty cover, and the page color and font (11 point Adobe Jenson Pro Light, if you must know) are easy on the eyes.
It really is lovely.… (altro)

I don’t even know where to start with how much I loved this book. I haven’t crushed so hard on a writer since my brother-in-law force-lent me A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.
With 68 pages of endnotes, his writing brings to mind the journal articles I have to read for grad school, but unlike the dry majority of these offerings, Houston’s scholarly writing is incredibly fun to read.
I smiled so much as I read this. I wish I’d read it on my kindle, because there would have been loads of highlighted passages to share. My comments below have some of my favorite quotations I noted as I progressed through the book.
Without Houston’s clever, friendly style, this still would have been a fascinating book, using specific symbols and marks to trace the evolution of the written word. His writing made it a delight.… (altro)