“The Story of Fine Books and Bookmaking”. The quest for the “golden book” has haunted the imaginations of all book-makers, and this fascinating history traces the contributions of each great master of the craft, from earliest times, in such primitive forms as clay tablets and papyrus, through the invention of paper and the first printed book in China, the invention of printing in Europe, and so through the past five centuries down to the examples of the modern private presses. More than one hundred and fifty reproductions of fine type pages, title pages, and engravings enhance the value of the text and make the book a veritable encyclopedia for all who are curious to know the history of books and how they are made.
– from the jacket flap.
Contents:
Introduction
Of the Making of Books
Ancient Forms of Writing
The Origin of the Alphabet
Paper and Its Forbears
Books in Manuscript
Printing in the Far East
Woodcuts and Block Books
The Stage Setting for Typography
The Invention of Printing
The Development of Typography
The Venetian Masters
Early Illustrated Books
The First Book in English
The Story of Incunabula
Subjects of the Incunabula
The Golden Age of Typography
Plantin of Antwerp
Master of Roman Type Design
The French 18th Century
The Writing Master’s Disciples
In the Track of Columbus
The Press Comes to Massachusetts
The Precocious Apprentice (Benjamin Franklin)
Printer – Historian – Educator (Isaiah Thomas)
A Typographical Messiah (William Morris)
The Process of Bookmaking
On Type Design
The Title Page
Book Illustration
The Decoration of Books
The Art of Bookbinding
Private Presses
Modern Fine Printing
Towards the Golden Book
