for the love of books
can't make it to trinity college to see the book of kells? don't happen to be swinging by oxford to peruse their illuminated manuscripts? no problem! i was transported through the history of the western book (14th century-present day) without even leaving my home town.
a friend of mine has a passion for collecting rare and historic books and i learned so much from his workshop at george fox! for example, i didn't know that vellum is exclusively from lamb or that books used to be chained to the library and pulpit so people couldn't take them. to own a book during the early formation of its rich history was to own a treasure.
while i had some idea as to craftsmanship, i had no idea how much went into the process or that printers did not do the binding. i knew about gutenberg and the revolutionary invention of movable type, but i didn't know who invented italics or anything about the nuremberg chronicle history of the world (1493).
william morris is most noted for reviving craftmanship in later centuries, and howard pyle is an illustrator of note. better yet, we got to carefully touch and handle ancient manuscripts and books that have stood the test of time as contrasted with some that did not (due mostly to poor craftsmanship, lack of care, or acids mixing with paper). i even saw the hole made by a real bookworm before getting to head to the library archives! the fox library also has the st. john's bible project on display, the modern-day labor of love led by donald jackson, calligrapher to the queen of england.
finally, we learned how to notice a truly valuable book or manuscript. often, people won't realize their own treasure and will take it to goodwill where a trained eye and hand can pick it up for as little as ten dollars. oh, for the love of books...
a friend of mine has a passion for collecting rare and historic books and i learned so much from his workshop at george fox! for example, i didn't know that vellum is exclusively from lamb or that books used to be chained to the library and pulpit so people couldn't take them. to own a book during the early formation of its rich history was to own a treasure.
while i had some idea as to craftsmanship, i had no idea how much went into the process or that printers did not do the binding. i knew about gutenberg and the revolutionary invention of movable type, but i didn't know who invented italics or anything about the nuremberg chronicle history of the world (1493).
william morris is most noted for reviving craftmanship in later centuries, and howard pyle is an illustrator of note. better yet, we got to carefully touch and handle ancient manuscripts and books that have stood the test of time as contrasted with some that did not (due mostly to poor craftsmanship, lack of care, or acids mixing with paper). i even saw the hole made by a real bookworm before getting to head to the library archives! the fox library also has the st. john's bible project on display, the modern-day labor of love led by donald jackson, calligrapher to the queen of england.
finally, we learned how to notice a truly valuable book or manuscript. often, people won't realize their own treasure and will take it to goodwill where a trained eye and hand can pick it up for as little as ten dollars. oh, for the love of books...
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