What is a Book?

The University of Notre Dame Press--which, let's be honest, publishes, as we all know, only the most outstanding of books--will, in March, be bringing out a volume sure to interest all bibliophiles, Eastern Christian and otherwise: Joseph A. Dane, What Is a Book?: The Study of Early Printed Books (UND Press, 2012, 288pp. 

Dane is the author of numerous previous and related works, including: 

• The Myth of Print Culture: Essays on Evidence, Textuality, and Bibliographical Method 
• Out of Sorts: On Typography and Print Culture
• Abstractions of Evidence in the Study of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books.

In What is a Book? the publisher tells us that Dane offers 

an introduction to the study of books produced during the period of the hand press, dating from around 1450 through 1800. Using his own bibliographic interests as a guide, Dane selects illustrative examples primarily from fifteenth-century books, books of particular interest to students of English literature, and books central to the development of Anglo-American bibliography. Part I of What Is a Book? covers the basic procedures of printing and the parts of the physical book—size, paper, type, illustration; Part II treats the history of book-copies—from cataloging conventions and provenance to electronic media and their implications for the study of books. 

Dane begins with the central distinction between a “book-copy”—the particular, individual, physical book—and a “book”—the abstract category that organizes these copies into editions, whereby each copy is interchangeable with any other. Among other issues, Dane addresses such basic questions as: How do students, bibliographers, and collectors discuss these things? And when is it legitimate to generalize on the basis of particular examples? Dane considers each issue in terms of a practical example or question a reader might confront: How do you identify books on the basis of typography? What is the status of paper evidence? How are the various elements on the page defined? What are the implications of the images available in an online database? And, significantly, how does a scholar’s personal experience with books challenge or conform to the standard language of book history and bibliography? Dane’s accessible and lively tour of the field is a useful guide for all students of book history, from the beginner to the specialist.

Then, the following month, the University of Toronto Press will be bringing out a book that looks at the process of writing, editing, and publishing: Darcy Cullen, ed., Editors, Scholars, and the Social Text. 

About this book the publisher tells us:

An academic book is much more than paper and ink, pixels and electrons. A dynamic social network of authors, editors, typesetters, proofreaders, indexers, printers, and marketers must work together to turn a manuscript into a book. Editors, Scholars, and the Social Text explores the theories and practices of editing, the processes of production and reproduction, and the relationships between authors and texts, as well as manuscripts and books. By bringing together academic experts and experienced practitioners, including editorial specialists, scholarly publishing professionals, and designers, Editors, Scholars, and the Social Text offers indispensable insight into the past and future of academic communication.