Overview

What would an anatomy of the book look like? There is the main text, of course, the file that the author proudly submits to their publisher. But around this, hemming it in on the page or enclosing it at the front and back of the book, there are dozens of other texts ED page numbers and running heads, copyright statements and errata lists ED each possessed of particular conventions, each with their own lively histories. To consider these paratexts ED recalling them from the margins, letting them take centre stage ED is to be reminded that no book is the sole work of the author whose name appears on the cover; rather, every book is the sum of a series of collaborations. It is to be reminded, also, that not everything is intended for us, the readers. There are sections that are solely directed at others ED binders, librarians, lawyers ED parts of the book that, if they are working well, are working discreetly, like a theatrical prompt, whispering out of the audience's ear-shot Book Parts is a bold and imaginative intervention in the fast growing field of book history: it pulls the book apart. Over twenty-two chapters, Book Parts tells the story of the components of the book: from title pages to endleaves; from dust jackets to indexes ED and just about everything in between. Book Parts covers a broad historical range that runs from the pre-print era to the digital, bringing together the expertise of some of the most exciting scholars working on book history today in order to shine a new light on these elements hiding in plain sight in the books we all read.

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9780198885443

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Reviews

an engaging work of book history as anatomy ... each of the contributors to Book Parts finds their own metaphorical vocabulary to describe the relationship between book part and main text. * James Waddell, Times Literary Supplement * ...a Gray's Anatomy for the bookish * Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal * For making us think about the elements of which a book is comprised, and making us reflect on their long histories - and for doing so with intelligence, learning and wit - this book is to be greatly welcomed...It is rarely less than fascinating and sometimes hugely entertaining. * Mathew Lyons, The Author * Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. * M. C. Cohen, CHOICE * Duncan and Smyth contextualize their undertaking with an unusually self-conscious introduction that does not spend time giving us synopses of each chapter ... There is little need to speak of the whole collection when it is this well edited and each part feels in concert with the others ... It is the drama of this shadowy realm that Smyth and Duncan's collection, both in whole and in part, demonstrates for us. * Nicholas D. Nace, The Book Collector * a vast body of expertise... engrossing, inviting, and, surprisingly, often entertaining * Libraries: Culture, History, and Society * Book Parts is a lively and wide-ranging contribution to book history and will surely prove to be a standout introduction (and inducement) to bibliographical scholarship * Caroline Curtis, The Library * Rich, odd, interesting * Ian Sansom, The Spectator *

"an engaging work of ""book history as anatomy"" ... each of the contributors to Book Parts finds their own metaphorical vocabulary to describe the relationship between book part and main text. * James Waddell, Times Literary Supplement * ...a Gray's Anatomy for the bookish * Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal * For making us think about the elements of which a book is comprised, and making us reflect on their long histories - and for doing so with intelligence, learning and wit - this book is to be greatly welcomed...It is rarely less than fascinating and sometimes hugely entertaining. * Mathew Lyons, The Author * Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. * M. C. Cohen, CHOICE * Duncan and Smyth contextualize their undertaking with an unusually self-conscious introduction that does not spend time giving us synopses of each chapter ... There is little need to speak of the whole collection when it is this well edited and each part feels in concert with the others ... It is the drama of this shadowy realm that Smyth and Duncan's collection, both in whole and in part, demonstrates for us. * Nicholas D. Nace, The Book Collector * a vast body of expertise... engrossing, inviting, and, surprisingly, often entertaining * Libraries: Culture, History, and Society * Book Parts is a lively and wide-ranging contribution to book history and will surely prove to be a standout introduction (and inducement) to bibliographical scholarship * Caroline Curtis, The Library * Rich, odd, interesting * Ian Sansom, The Spectator *"

Author Information

Dennis Duncan is writer, translator, and lecturer in English at University College, London, and was formerly a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, then Munby Fellow in Bibliography at Cambridge. His research interests include book history, translation, and avant-garde literature, particularly French groups like the Oulipo and the Collège de 'Pataphysique. His most recent books include Index, A History of the (Penguin, 2021) and The Oulipo and Modern Thought (Oxford University Press, 2019). Adam Smyth is Professor of English Literature and the History of the Book at Balliol College, Oxford. His most recent books include Material Texts in Early Modern England (Cambridge University Press, 2018); Autobiography in Early Modern England (Cambridge University Press, 2010); A History of English Autobiography (edited, Cambridge University Press, 2016); and Book Destruction from the Medieval to the Contemporary (edited with Gill Partington, Palgrave, 2014). He is the co-editor of Routledge's book series Material Readings in Early Modern Culture. He also enjoys discussing his work beyond the academy: he writes regularly for the London Review of Books, and has appeared on TV and radio in the UK and abroad. Adam Smyth is the co-host of the literary discussion podcast and radio show, Litbits.

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