Interesting note! I think I've built something like a codex in the past - a collection of articles cobbled together to make an e-Book for my gym. I can see how disparate pieces sort of came together without a ton of architectural thought, but as it became possible to do more and more (paper, smaller writing with more precise instruments, etc), the idea of a complete story with binding started to become a thing.
Good article, Andrew. Too many “books” are bound non-sellers today for friends and bragging rights. I get that, but children also do bound “books”. Then we have comic “books”. Hazy lines. I do think we have a generation of audio and podcast books (I love them too), but for a winter evening, please give me a book that I can hold in my hands and maybe even highlight.
I didn’t get why the book of Kells isn’t a book. But maybe that wasn’t the issue. A book is a book even if you have someone else read it to you. Parents read to their kids. Children enjoy books in so many ways, play, art, theatre, audio etc. Will research this book as I’ve not come across it before.
You write on a fantastically wide array of topics, and you have fun while doing so. I respect that a lot. I loved studying this period of medieval period back during undergrad. The text transmission history is enthralling. In some cases, just one copy of a book was passed down from hand to hand allowing us to read a particular text today. So cool!
Incredible stuff! It's kind of incredible that we got to where we are today. I wonder how much information was *almost* lost to time like the close call you describe. I bet it was a lot.
And hey, thank you for saying that! I figured out that I need to have fun first, and other folks will have fun too. That's really it!
What is this "book" thing you speak of? Is it like a paper-based Substack or something?
So many new terms to learn. Thanks, AI!
Interesting that the ebooks I publish today using Pressbooks are much more like scrolls. This can be an asset or a liability.
Interesting note! I think I've built something like a codex in the past - a collection of articles cobbled together to make an e-Book for my gym. I can see how disparate pieces sort of came together without a ton of architectural thought, but as it became possible to do more and more (paper, smaller writing with more precise instruments, etc), the idea of a complete story with binding started to become a thing.
Good article, Andrew. Too many “books” are bound non-sellers today for friends and bragging rights. I get that, but children also do bound “books”. Then we have comic “books”. Hazy lines. I do think we have a generation of audio and podcast books (I love them too), but for a winter evening, please give me a book that I can hold in my hands and maybe even highlight.
Nothing is quite like paper, but I really do appreciate the ease of reading from a screen as my eyes begin to fade.
I didn’t get why the book of Kells isn’t a book. But maybe that wasn’t the issue. A book is a book even if you have someone else read it to you. Parents read to their kids. Children enjoy books in so many ways, play, art, theatre, audio etc. Will research this book as I’ve not come across it before.
You write on a fantastically wide array of topics, and you have fun while doing so. I respect that a lot. I loved studying this period of medieval period back during undergrad. The text transmission history is enthralling. In some cases, just one copy of a book was passed down from hand to hand allowing us to read a particular text today. So cool!
Incredible stuff! It's kind of incredible that we got to where we are today. I wonder how much information was *almost* lost to time like the close call you describe. I bet it was a lot.
And hey, thank you for saying that! I figured out that I need to have fun first, and other folks will have fun too. That's really it!