The Book on the Bookshelf
by Henry Petroski
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Book Summary Information
Author: Henry PetroskiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-09-12
ISBN: 0375706399
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Book on the Bookshelf
Book Review: "So many books,but so little time" the saying goes.How about,"So many books, so little space"?
Summary: 5 Stars
If you love books,a little or a lot,you'll fall in love with this excellent book about books,by an engineer,no less.I have a personal library of over 7,000 books,am also an engineer,and was surprised to find "A Book About Books" written by an engineer.I have quite a number of books on this subject,which I choose to call "Book Books".
These books, all deal with books in one way or another,but this one tends to emphasize the placement of books on some sort of shelf;but the author does not limit himself to that alone. He covers books and the way
and how they have been been constructed over the ages and how they came to be stored,whether it was only a couple of manuscripts by some solitary monk in a monestary,some exclusive collection by a nobelman, libraries where they were chained,huge ancient or modern great world libraries;and even private libraries ,large or small by readers of great wealth or humble means.
The author shows that there is one thing in common with all collections ,big or small,rare or common;books have to be put somewhere.While the author goes into considerable detail about how books have been constructed and shows how the shelves or whatever they were stored on;he shows how the shelving was adapted to accomodate them. He covers the personal libraries but also covers the engineering and architecture of the shelving and structures built to house the world's massive collections.One should not be scared away from this book,thinking that it is too involved or technical;because it isn't at all.The author covers so much ground ,that rather than overly complicated,it simply becomes interesting.
One thing for sure is, that after reading this book,one will never look at books and how they are arranged or stored ,in the same way again.This is the case whether one is enterind a famous library,your local library,a bookstore, small and down some side street,a modern big-box bookstore,an old barn bookstore,a persons library,or one of my favorite things to do which is to get out a magnifying glass and read the titles of the books on bookshelves behind photographs of people in books,magazines or newspapers.Not surprising ,when an article appears on a personality with a photo,they often choose to show that person in their favorite spot, which is often at a desk or chair with books in the background. Just a couple of days ago there was an article about a top Canadian author in the Toronto Star,Peter Newman,in his favorite chair surrounded by books.What fun to see what books he keeps on his bookshelf.
This book has an extensive appendix "Order,Order" discussing the ways to arrange books on one's shelves,which is very helpful or at least interesting.Personally,of all the wasys covered,I guess I employ most of them to one extent or another.The author also includes an appendix on "Notes" where he gives references to all the quotes in the book,chapter by chapter.An extensive Bibliography and Index makes the book a valuable and useful resource.
The author has included many of my favorite "Book Books" in his Bibliography, such as "At Home With Books" by Ellis,Seebohm and Sykes ,"A Gentle Madness",by Basbanes,and "The Anatomy of Bibliomania,by Holbrook Jackson (a real classic). However one might enjoy "Writers in Residence",by Glynne Robinson Betts ,and see what books are shown in photographs of many famous writers."Collecting Books" by Catherine Porter,"The Smithonian Book of Books,by Michael Olmert,and "The Library At Night",by Alberto Manguel,will also delight you, if you enjoyed Petroski's wonderful book.
On the subject of books, another aspect is keeping track of them.Where they were bought,when and for how much,have they been read, what about duplicates(different editions and even titles),where are they now,..but that's a whole other subject...
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