Research Catalog

Title

Gutenberg's fingerprint : paper, pixels and the lasting impression of books / Merilyn Simonds.

Author

Simonds, Merilyn, 1949-

Publication

• Toronto, Ontario : ECW Press, [2017]
• ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

380 pages : illustrations; 22 cm.

Summary

"Four seismic shifts have rocked human communication: the invention of writing, the alphabet, mechanical type and the printing press, and digitization. Poised over this fourth transition, e-reader in one hand, perfect-bound book in the other, Merilyn Simonds --author, literary maven, and early adopter --asks herself: what is lost and what is gained as paper turns to pixel? Gutenberg's Fingerprint trolls the past, present, and evolving future of the book in search of an answer. Part memoir and part philosophical and historical exploration, the book finds its muse in Hugh Barclay, who produces gorgeous books on a hand-operated antique letterpress. As Simonds works alongside this born-again Gutenberg, and with her son to develop a digital edition of the same book, her assumptions about reading, writing, the nature of creativity, and the value of imperfection are toppled. Gutenberg's Fingerprint is a timely and fascinating book that explores the myths, inventions, and consequences of the digital shift and how we read today."--Book jacket.

Subject

• Barclay, Hugh
• Simonds, Merilyn, 1949-
• Hand-printed books
• Printing
• Communication and technology
• Books and reading
• BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
• LITERARY CRITICISM / Books & Reading
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies

Genre/Form

Biographies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic format.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Hugh, me and the book -- Paper -- Type -- Ink -- Press -- Book -- Lasting impressions.

ISBN

• 9781770413528
• 1770413529

OCLC

• 960097276
• SCSB-11206197

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library