The Book : The Story of Printing & Bookmaking

Bracken Books, London, 1989 reprint of 1943 third edition. Cloth-backed boards, 8vo, 24 cm,. xxx, 676 pp, numerous illustrations. An excellent and highly readable general history of printing and everything to do with the making of a book, by an acknowledged expert. Extensively illustrated. From the blurb: "Mr. McMurtrie's approach to his subject is historical. The Book covers the origin of writing and of the alphabet; the beginnings of printing in the Far East; writing materials; the genesis and early history of paper; books in manuscript and their scribes and illustrators; the European invention of printing and its dissemination; type design and its development; book illustration and decoration; bookbinding and the work of celebrated binders; the work of eminent printers, such as Jenson, Aldus, Plantin, Baskerville, Didot, Bodoni, Benjamin Franklin, William Morris, and their more recent successors; the private presses; and finally, contemporary book designing, typography, and illustration, and the ideas of the book designer of today. The Book will answer any but the most specialized and technical questions in regard to books and their makers. The actual processes of book production are described simply and plainly. There are more than one hundred and seventy illustrations including some hundred and twenty reproductions of title pages, text pages, and engravings from famous books, all of which supplement and enrich the text. Many pages of bibliographical references and a comprehensive index also serve to make The Book an invaluable reference work as well as a book of fascinating interest for the general reader. Bookplate on front pastedown endpaper, Near Fine in Near Fine dustwrapper.