126. Pen, Page, and People - The History of the Book: Prof. Adam Smyth (Author of ”The Book-Makers”)

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When we think of history of books, we often neglect the people who created them. We think of history as a figment of facts, connected together by time and advances in technology. But sometimes we overlook the humanity, the souls, the fingerprints in the ink-stained margins of long-forgotten tomes. In this episode, I sit down with Oxford's Prof. Adam Smyth to discuss his The Book-Makers: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives. How a book was made tells us about the people who created it, as well as what the culture valued about books. The way a book was formed changes how we interact with it.

Topics:

• Humanizing the history of the book - the forgotten lives of the book-makers
• The book - a blend of prose and production
• How culture influenced the design of books
• How hand-printing influences your view of writing
• Do you think the abstract nature and accessibility of text have changed how we view it?
• "What books have had an impact on you?"
• "What advice do you have for teenagers?

Bio:
Adam Smyth is professor of English literature and the history of the book at Balliol College, University of Oxford. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books and the TLS. He also runs the 39 Steps Press, a small printing press, which he keeps in a barn in Oxfordshire, England. 

Affiliate book links: (Support the show by buying through these links :D)

• The Book-Maker: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives
• Books of impact: Short stories of Borges

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