Avrin, Leila Scribes, Script and Books , Chicago USA: American Library Association, 1991.

Illustrated by 300 Photographs. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 4to 0838905226 Dust jacket complete. Illustrated cloth covered board with bright gilt titling on spine and upper cover. No ownership inscription. 300 Photographs. xxxii, 356 pages clean and tight. Why did the Early Christians abandon the scroll for the codex book? What was the first punctuation mark? Why did Near Eastern society respect plagiarists? What exactly is micrography? How is parchment made? These are just a few of the questions that Dr Avrin, a well-known lecturer on the subject, sets out to answer in this encyclopaedic and extremely readable history of the handmade book from the earliest times up to the birth of printing. The scope is very wide; after chapters on the origins of the book, the history of writing, the book in the ancient world, the development of scripts and styles of illumination, and the making of manuscripts through the centuries, the author goes on to deal with the cultural traditions of Hebrew and Islamic bookmaking, and the techniques of bookbinding and papermaking, giving detailed practical explanations of all the technological processes involved. A very full bibliography completes the work. The book is profusely illustrated throughout, with over 300 photographs gathered from libraries and museums worldwide, and many specially commissioned diagrams, maps and tables. (Book ref. 124442)  £95.00

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