What is a Book?

Etymology

• Portable written or printed work filling a number of sheets fastened together.
• Book: Old English (boc); beech tree
• Paper: Old French papier; Egyptian papyrus
• Folio: Latin folio; leaf or sheet of paper
• A portable container consiting of a series of printed and bound pages that preserves, announces, expounds or transmits knowledge to a literal readership across time and space.

 A book in its purest form is a phenomenon of space and time and dimensionality that is unique in itself. Every time we turn the page we are confronted with a new page. (Haslam, 2008)

Revolutionary Phases

The movement from oral to written culture

• Development of the Alphabet
• Acquisition of Language
• Writing
• Economic trading structures
• Evolution drive

The Oral

• Spoken
• Heard
• Natural
• Addressee is already present
• Quick, forgotten, devolved
• Time based
• Feedback immediate

The Written

• Visual
• Artificial
• Addressee generally absent: monologue
• Slow and requires equipment
• Permanent and prestigious
• Organised in space and feedback delayed

Writing Systems

Alphabetic

• Phonograms
• Letterforms

Ideographic Systems

• Hieroglyphs
• Pictograms
• Logograms

The movement from literacy to printing

• Manuscripts: British Library
• Development of printing
• 300 BCE pressed seals China & Egypt
• 1800 - 1600 BCE Minson Pharistas Disc
• 220 Block printing on paper
• 90 Arab printing
• 1450 Gutenburg
• 1473 William Caxton
• 1476 Canterbury Tales in English

The movement from print to computer

Generated Content

• Print is slowly being displaced from the centre of social communication to the periphery.

The Future of the Book

A revolution?

• Supercession
• Sweep away the old
• Liberation
• New technology is empowering
• Self publish

Sacred Texts

• Fixed nature
• Creation of clergy
• Power: King James
• Creation of Y Bibl; documentation of language

The Book as Power

The book enabled constitutions to be written, for language to be fixed to provide a code. It entrenches the word of the leader, for example in Mein Kampf.

Definitive Books


Information becomes fixed, resulting in yesterday's news becoming today's history.

The Western Canon is a term used to define a 'canon', or set, of books that have been influential in shaping western culture.

Helpful Books


Practical books like map books, manuals and instructions.

The Pleasure of Reading


Book as Leisure

• Guides
• Hobbies
• Novel
• Picture Book
• Catalogues
• Cultural books

Judging a Book by it's Cover

Homemade Books

• Notebooks
• Diaries
• Fanzines
• Blogs
• Web Publishing
• Artist Books
• Small Editions

Storytelling and Books

Before one can consider a book, one must consider! what it is to have a text. A text is an array of words on! paper. Or, if not words, other things that are to be! read. One can have a text with no words at all - ! music or visual entities of symbols!"The Book, Spiritual Instrument! Jerome Rothenberg & David Guss< Narrative Storytelling Voice Structure Interactive Books Interactive books can include colouring books, physicality, pop ups, getting lost, journeys or flick books. Consider... Text: content (collectors, collections, collecting) tone of voice what are you presenting? Narrative: structure, sequence, title how do you order your text? Physicality: structure, form, interaction, duplication how are you making your book?

Audience: readers, distribution, interaction how will readers interact with your book?

Haslam, A, 2008, Book Design, Central St. Martins, London