Book 6: The Smithsonian Book of Books

TITLE: The Smithsonian Book of Books
AUTHOR: Michael Olmert
STARTED: Who knows - it was assigned in my course this summer
FINISHED: February 1, 2008
PAGES: 320
GENRE: Books about Books

FIRST SENTENCE: Books!

SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] Through glorious illustrations from library collections around the globe, you'll discover a wealth of book lore in these pages, and gain a new appreciation for the role of books in human society, from our earliest attempts at writing and recording information to the newest electronic books; from sumptuous illuminated and bejeweled medieval manuscripts to Gutenberg and the invention of movable type; from the diverse arts and crafts of bookmaking to the building of magnificent libraries for housing treasured volumes; from the ancient epic of Gilgamesh to the plays of Shakespeare and the tales of Beatrix Potter; and from the earliest illustrated books to revolutionary science texts. Breathtakingly illustrated throughout with 284 color and 99 b/w illustrations.

THOUGHTS: This book was assigned in my course last summer on the history of the book. We were not assigned the entire text, but I told myself I would finish up the chapters we skipped. Well, I did... but it certainly took me long enough.

This book provides a nice crash course on all things books. While it is extensive in its nature, the book is by no means comprehensive. If your looking for an entertaining and informative text (now with pretty pictures!) this book is a good option. The text throws in enough anecdotes and random pieces of information that it was never once boring.

My one suggestion... read it over the course of a long period of time. If I had sat down and tried to read this over the course of a week, I probably would have hated it.

RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]

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