THE%20NATURE%20OF%20THE%20BOOK

1
THE NATURE OF THE BOOK

• Main points
• Fixity is not innate to printed works.
• Authorship had to be created.
• Printers shaped knowledge.
• Piracy threatened to undo the credibility of the
  printed word.
• Scientific revolution aided development of print.
• Rethink how you interpret print.

2
Literatory Life

• Literate population
• Printing houses- actual homes
• Threat of piracy
• Patriarchal, family based
• Importance of copy
• Common man controls press
• Authors limited rights

3
The Advancement of Wholesome Knowledge

• Stationer Company
• Hall Book/Registration
• Privileges
• Attempts to limit
• piracy, conflict and
• counterfeit.
• Early attempt to develop creditability of print.

4
John Streater and the Knights of the Galaxy

• Natural world and political world were
  inseparable
• Issue of monopolies
• Law books made accessible to all
• Legal practice altered

5
Faust and the Pirates

• Printing
  Press's origin
• -Laurens Coster
• -Gutenberg
  
• - Johann Faust.
• Printing appeared in Oxford
• in 1471, after
• a workshop
• man was successfully bribed.
• The debate still continues.

6
The Physiology of Reading

• Reading effected mind and body
• Passions
• Need for collaboration in sciences
• Royal Society

7
Piracy and Usurpation

• Usurpation
• Piracy made all books questionable
• Royal Society refereed and required registration
• Experiments relied heavily on printed materials

8
Histories of the Heavens

• Antagonism between Newton, Halley, Flamsteed
• Two versions of Historia Coelestis Britannica
• Importance of author

9
Conclusion

• Authorship had to be developed
• Print, historically, was uncertain.
• People now assume trust from the printed word.
• Control of print, is control of knowledge.
• Threat of piracy still exists in many places.

10
Reception

• Well researched and very detailed
• Intriguing
• Too long, could use more organization
• Skewed
• Neglects 150 years of print culture
• Often digresses too far from main points