History of the Book

In order to understand what might make a book rare or even valuable, it is helpful to understand the history behind how books have been written, printed and made over the centuries, Since living in caves, humans have told stories and have explored ways to record them in text and images. Explore the resources below to learn more about how we progressed from cave paintings to clay tablets to scrolls to the codex (the book form we are most familiar with) to e-books.

Glorious Bookishness

Why We Love Books
Director of Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, Michael F. Suarez, S.J. teaches us how and why we should judge a book by its cover in this TED Talk.
Running time: 17 minutes

Birth of a Book

Birth of a Book: How a Hardback Book is Made
Short YouTube video that shows the basics of the printing process.
Running time: 2 minutes

Papermaking

Papermaking by hand
This older film shows how paper was made by hand before the technologies of the Industrial Revolution.
Running time: 15 minutes

The Anatomy of a Book

The Anatomy of a Book
An older film from the Rare Book School that discusses how books were made in the handpress era, including the different formats used to create books. Helpful to those who hope to work with older books one day, in any field.
Running time: 30 minutes

Presswork: A Documentary

Presswork: A Documentary
The Rare Book School at UVA presents Presswork: A Documentary, chronicling RBS’s commissioning of an eighteenth-century style wooden rolling press, and the program that ensued which seeks to introduce scholars, students, and members of the community to hands-on printing using Englightenment-era technology.
Running time: 15 minutes

History of the Book: A Timeline

Read: The Evolution of the Book
From clay tablets to the e-book, this website traces the history of the written and printed word and the evolution of the book from scroll to codex to e-book.

History of the Book in Detail

Building the Book from Ancient World to Modern Day
Navigate through the entire history of the book by clicking on the links on the right. For more on the History of the Book, see the next page of this guide.

Illuminated Manuscripts

Making Manuscripts
An illuminated manuscript is a book written and decorated completely by hand. Illuminated manuscripts were among the most precious objects produced in the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, primarily in monasteries and courts. Society's rulers--emperors, kings, dukes, cardinals, and bishops--commissioned the most splendid manuscripts.
Running time: 6 minutes

History of Typography

History of Typography
A paper-letter animation about the history of fonts and typography. Fun and artsy!
Running time: 5 minutes

How the Printing Press Revolutionized the World

How the Printing Press Revolutionized the World
Stephen Fry takes a look inside the story of Johann Gutenberg, inventor of the world's first printing press in the 15th century, and an exploration of how and why the machine was invented.
Running time: 1 hour

Books Produced by Hand

Books Produced by Hand
In an age of mass-produced titles, the care with which artisans create beautiful books by hand speaks volumes. Barry Petersen reports on the books crafted by Monterey, Ky., printer Gray Zeitz, and how the art of bookbinding is being taught at the American Academy of Bookbinding in Telluride, Colo.

Some REALLY old books

The Gilgamesh Tablet at the British Museum
From 7th century BCE, this clay tablet tells the story of an epic flood. Discovered in the 19th century.
Book of the Dead
Papyrus from 1250 BCE Egypt depicting Ani's afterlife.
Korean Printing Block from 18th Centruy
Held at the Harvard Art Museums. Page from a book of Korean History.
Book of Kells
Written sometime between 500 and 800 CE, this illuminated manuscript from Ireland contains the four gospels.
Nuremberg Chronicle
The Liber Chronicarum by Hartmann Schedel printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger in 1493, or Nuremberg Chronicle as it is generally called, is one of the most important German incunables and the most extensively illustrated book of the 15th century.

The text is a universal history of the Christian world from the beginning of times to the early 1490s, written in Latin by the Nuremberg physician and humanist Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514) on commission from the Nuremberg merchants Sebald Schreyer (1446-1520) and Sebastian Kammermeister (1446-1503). Drawn by the author from multiple medieval and Renaissance sources, such as Bede, Vincent of Beauvais, Martin of Tropau, Flavius Blondus, Bartolomeo Platina and Philippus de Bergamo (Iacopo Filippo Foresta), the Chronicle also incorporates geographical and historical information on European countries and towns. The narrative is divided into 11 parts, the so-called world ages, and is profusely illustrated by images of biblical and historical events, and topographical views of towns and countries in Europe and the Middle East, including Jerusalem (and its destruction) and Byzantium.
Kelmscott Chaucer
The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer published in 1896 by the Kelmscott Press was the culmination of William Morris's vision for an ideal book. It embodied his love of medieval literature and art, as well as his love of beauty.

Works Cited

Birth of a Book: How a Hardback Book Is Made. Directed by The Telegraph, 2012. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuFV5196dYQ.

Book of Kells // Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/collections/ks65hc20t. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.

Books Produced by Hand. Directed by CBS Sunday Morning, 2019. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFj6v3hSQ-Y.

Glorious Bookishness | Michael F. Suarez, S.J. | TEDxCharlottesville. Directed by TEDx Talks, 2018. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P92ZXth8iRs.

Making Manuscripts. Directed by Getty Museum, 2014. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuNfdHNTv9o.

Papermaking by Hand at Hayle Mill, England in 1976 - YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs3PfwOItto. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.

Papyrus | British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA10470-3, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA10470-3. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.

Presswork: A Documentary. Directed by Rare Book School, 2020. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEJPRV-V_WE.

Printing Block: Pages Twenty Seven (Recto and Verso) and Twenty Eight (Recto and Verso) of the Appendix to the Collected Literary Works of Hunsu Sŏnsaeng [Hun-Su Sŏn-Saeng Mun-Jip, Pu-Rok, i-Sip-Ch’il, i-Sip-p’al] | Harvard Art Museums. http://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/99849. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.

Tablet | British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_K-3375. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.

The Anatomy of a Book: Format in the Hand-Press Period (1991). Directed by Rare Book School, 2018. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efxddk09p0g.

The Changing Form of the Book · Building the Book from the Ancient World to the Present Day: Five Decades of Rare Book School & the Book Arts Press · Grolier Club Exhibitions. https://grolierclub.omeka.net/exhibits/show/rare-book-school/introduction. Accessed 20 Dec. 2023.

“The Evolution of the Book.” SF Book Reviews, 2023, https://sfbook.com/the-evolution-of-the-book.htm.

The History of Typography - Animated Short. Directed by Ben Barrett-Forrest, 2013. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOgIkxAfJsk.

The Kelmscott Chaucer | William Morris. https://exhibitions.lib.umd.edu/williammorris/kelmscott-press/the-kelmscott-chaucer. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.

The Medieval Invention That Changed The Course Of History | The Machine That Made Us | Timeline. Directed by Timeline - World History Documentaries, 2018. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ88yC35NjI.

“Treasures of the Library : Nuremberg Chronicle.” Cambridge Digital Library, https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk//view/PR-INC-00000-A-00007-00002-00888/15. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.