Monthly Archives: February 2013

If Gutenburg had a lithograph…

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These “what if” questions give me a headache. Not that I don’t like them, but there is no evidence to strongly support them. I am inclined to just answer like this: had lithography or photography been available at the incunabula era, the 16th century would look just like the 20th. That is really the most logical answer of which I can think. But let me explain:

If, for example, linotype followed closely after the hand-press (perhaps as a way to hasten the compositor’s job and speed up the whole process) jobs would be at stake. The compositor was perhaps the most skilled worker besides the owner in the incunabula print house. Linotype is much simpler to create, though a good deal of spelling and grammatical skill is still involved. This would incur labor unrest not seen until the 19th century. Although, even the book details short (possibly daily) labor disputes between the master and his workers (Howard 87-91). And lithography? Forget about it! All the compositor’s skill is thrown to the wayside when you can make molded impressions of a page that can be reused indefinitely. However, with the newer machine technology, more skilled workers are needed who can operate and sometimes repair them. Regardless, a shift in technology will shake up the labor market – much to the dismay of employers.

E-books and the rise of self- publishing

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I have been thinking lately about the ways in which ebooks have changed the book market. There was a recent article in the New York Times about Apple’s iBookstore and their recent launch of a “Breakout Books” tab. This banner will showcase books from popular self- published authors. My first experience with a self- published book was when I was nine at a yard sale. I remember picking up an odd sci- fi novel about aliens and the end of the world. My dad inspected it and then told me that the author himself had paid to publish it and jokingly told me that it was definitely a “rare” find. However, thanks to ebooks, self – published books have more of a chance of receiving notice and much less of a chance of ending up at a garage sale.

The medium of ebooks allows writers to bypass the cost of hiring a publisher in a revolutionarily profitable manner. Most importantly, on an ebook there is unlimited shelf space. Bookstores can only hold so many books. In the past, writers would depend on the status of their publisher and marketing campaign to reach the shelf. Additionally, ebooks are immortal. In the old world of publishing, if a book sold poorly at first, the retailers would have to return them to the publisher. From an economic standpoint, if the quality of these “indie” books is up to par, then the ability to bypass the cost of the publisher leads to lower prices. According to the article publishers pay authors 25 percent for retail sails while self- published authors earn 60- 70 percent of the list price. I have noticed more and more self- published books appearing on my kindle and there is a recent surge in self- published ebooks becoming best sellers.

The Making of a Renaissance Book

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After Professor Phillips mentioned the 20 minute documentary during our printing demonstration on friday I decided to take a look. Assuming you can look past the sometimes maddening soundtrack, I found it very interesting that only half of the 20 minutes were on what we did in class thursday. The first half of the documentary was about the craftsmen who physically make the letters that are assembled by the printer. A process that is seemingly more meticulous and time consuming than the demonstration we had (if you can believe it). Its hard to even imagine the amount of work and time that goes into printing just one letter, let alone an entire book. Before the advent of modern technology, printing must have been an incredibly long and time consuming process, more so than I could have imagined even after the printing demonstration. This documentary really makes you appreciate the rare books we have seen, the effort it must have taken to make just one of those books is astounding.

For those of you interested in viewing the documentary it can be found on our moodle page under Authorship and Book History.

Accessibility of Historic Books

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Studying historical books becomes more convenient as technological innovations occur.  Since March 20 2012, ”

JISC Historic Books contains the full text or page images of over 300,000 books published in Britain before 1800”

As more historical books become available on the internet, there is less incentive to visit museums and libraries to view them.  Online viewing takes away from the feel and style to which the book was written.  When viewing books online, one can only view content within the text.  You cant see the real texture of the cover, pages, and maybe not even the actual font.  Even some books have a certain smell to them that can create an enticing aura.  Similar to the explanations by Walter Benjamin in “Illuminations,” When you have an official historic book from the time in which it was written, you can feel the difference which aids in immersing oneself in the setting in which it was created.  The lack of a setting can result in a lack of motivation for the general population.  Historians would be interested in old books regardless of the presence of an aura; on the other hand, an aura can be alluring for students normally uninterested in historical books.

 

Printed Books: A Dying Breed

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With the advent and proliferation of eBooks, it seems the printed book is a dying breed. Much like the printing press before it, digitally printed books will more than likely be phased out. Or will they? According to the Wall Street Journal, eBooks have not seen the continuing increase in popularity that most people would have predicted. Which begs the question, what is it about printed books that we seem unable to let go? Is it a human trait? Or is it a nostalgia?

Thursday’s Class

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Thursday’s class at the workshop had me think about the art of writing.  Watching the printing press in action and learning about the immense amount of effort required to create a four line poem, I felt as if writing used to have more qualities than the words themselves.  The printing press made writing more personal than printed writing today because of the effort required and the ability to express oneself with subtle altercations.  From painting to cleaning the scrolls, the printing press requires a considerable amount of diligence and passion for writing.

Law and Anime

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As if it were made for me to use in this class, I came across this feature which directly regards copyright along with the large and international fanbase of anime. It is fairly long and has two parts (with more to come), but in summary, it first defines and elaborates on the nature of a copyright. It continues to discuss how copyright can affect the fandom, from drawing pictures to sell at a convention, to making full blown doujinshi (in essence fan fiction) series.

In the end, the question still lingers: Is it right/okay to participate in these activities, despite them having many instances of infringing on copyright? And even if it is not right, does that mean they should be stopped?

Blogging Prompt Week 3

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In terms of studying historical books, it is blatantly obvious that nothing beats a hands-on experience, where one is viewing the actual books and physically touching them. Seeing such works up close is the only way to truly appreciate all of their intricate details and get a sense of every aspect about them. however, this is not to say that there is no value in viewing pictures of such materials. On the contrary, pictures of historical books allow for a convenient viewing of them which, in some cases, is the only way to see them. Simply put, not everybody has immediate access to such materials, since they are often kept in museums or private collections. So, pictures allow for people who other wise wouldn’t be able to see such materials to study them.

Before Self-publishing

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Truly Foucault’s dream has come true: “I seem to call for a form of culture in which fiction would not be limited by the figure of the author. It would be pure romanticism, however, to imagine a culture in which the fictive would operate in an absolutely free state, in which fiction would be put at the disposal of everyone…” Foucault, What is an Author?

According to Foucault, we are living in a world of pure romanticism.In the Internet Age everyone is in control of the fictive, as both reader and creator. There are many sites which allow and encourage members (anyone with internet access) to create whatever they may. Some, like tumblr, offer limited copyrights to the writers. As we learned Thursday, we can also apply for our own copyright. It is a wonderful world where people can exercise their artistic faculties freely. For an example, take a look at this Lafayette alum’s blog, which he started while in college. There is also a guest article by a current student. Read Sam Strong Storming the Ivory Tower.

Tuesday’s Class

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Tuesday’s class was a great example of historic and rare books. I really enjoyed seeing the books in person and learning their individual backgrounds. Since we have been reading about it outside of class, it was great to actually get to see examples of what we are reading. Also, I really enjoyed learning that each book ever printed really does have its own specific background. Each of the books we learned about was so unique that I could not stop and think about how and where all these books been. I almost wish I could track down all of the locations and people who owned all these great and rare books.