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  3. The Invention of Rare Books
  • Cited by 12
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      28 June 2018
      12 July 2018
      ISBN:
      9781108584265
      9781108428323
      9781108449335
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108584265
      Dimensions:
      (247 x 174 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      1.07kg, 460 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (244 x 170 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.79kg, 462 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Literature, Printing and Publishing History, English Literature 1700-1830
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    Subjects:
    Literature, Printing and Publishing History, English Literature 1700-1830
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    Book description

    When does a book that is merely old become a rarity and an object of desire? David McKitterick examines, for the first time, the development of the idea of rare books, and why they matter. Studying examples from across Europe, he explores how this idea took shape in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and how collectors, the book trade and libraries gradually came together to identify canons that often remain the same today. In a world that many people found to be over-supplied with books, the invention of rare books was a process of selection. As books are one of the principal means of memory, this process also created particular kinds of remembering. Taking a European perspective, McKitterick looks at these interests as they developed from being matters of largely private concern and curiosity, to the larger public and national responsibilities of the first half of the nineteenth century.

    Reviews

    ‘McKitterick’s impeccable scholarship and the insights and experiences of the contributors to Collecting the Past are major contributions to our understanding both of book history and of the history of the institutions which are themselves a part of that history.’

    John Feather Source: Library and Information History

    ‘The Invention of Rare Books, is essential and fascinating reading … Deeply researched and engagingly written, this study is cultural, social, economic and intellectual history thoughtfully stitched and gathered together.’

    Source: Journal of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society

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