As I started reading the article assigned by Professor Phillips by Walter Benjamin, I began to wonder about the monetary value of texts. Today, we greatly value original works and hand-made crafts, art, etc. I’m reminded of some of the works Diane Shaw has shown us that she said were invaluable, that she could not even put a price on for a number of reasons: a small number of copies of the work exist, the work was created by hand, it has historical significance, etc.
So I wonder, had the processes of mechanical reproduction not developed, would literary texts with hand-drawn book art be more valuable?
I think they would be more valuable because the way in which the art was done might have still evolved. It would be interesting to see how much more valuable the works would be. It also raises an interesting question for the future with mass produced books. Are they going to be as valuable in the future due to how easy it is to make copies now?
One reason the original copies hold so much value is that they have become icons from their mass exposure. If mechanical reproduction had not been developed then it would be perhaps hard to value original art because there are no other alternatives.
To go off of Candace’s question, books printed today–albeit mass produced–might become very valuable in the future if eBooks become the trend of the future. Actual printed books might become rare, and therefore, be sought after in the future.