“Given its ancient origins some 2,000 years ago, the book can be considered one of the oldest artefacts surviving in our age”. In other words the book's basic architecture has not changed over the centuries in its essential features; this is the observation from which Breede starts. Probably several reasons have played a role in the success of this object, but certainly the design which makes it particularly user friendly, easily searchable, portable and relatively economical are among those factors responsible for such a success. As Breede writes, probably “the architecture of the book constitutes the epitome of perfect industrial design, on which improvements are not possible”.
Breede's work traces the history of the book and book printing, starting from ancient civilisations (Egypt, China) up to the key invention in 1450 of Gutenberg's movable types that propelled books to their position as the premier form of visual communication. The author then moves through the ages, analysing factors and inventions which gave a propulsion to the artefact book: the diffusion in France, Italy and Great Britain of Gutenberg's invention; its technological superiority on other contemporary printing technologies; the invention of photography and its utility for printed books; the invention and establishment of offset printing and at the same time the improvement in all technologies related to book printing, including paper production and bookbinding technologies. Finally, a good part of the book is dedicated to the advent of digital printing in all its aspects, its advantages and disadvantages compared with conventional offset printing and an analysis of the reasons which seem to play a role in the rapid diffusion of this new printing technology.
While the central part of the book is dedicated to technological or economic issues, a few chapters analyse book printing and publishing in the light of social implications, as for example the wider access to publishing through the web and the possibility of buying and selling books online, and in particular the Amazon phenomenon. With wider diffusion of books, there has also, however, come declining rates of literacy, especially in the Western Hemisphere. But it is not the web or the possibility for anyone to write, print and publish that presents the greatest threat to the physical book; rather, it appears to be the increasing reliance on e‐text communication and the de‐emphasis of the written text.
The book is many‐sided and can target many readers because of its broad approach to the topic. On one side, it can interest generalist readers for its attractive historical and sociological analysis of the printed book, which could be of interest to anyone who loves books. On the other side, it also provides practitioners with a good insight into different technologies, as well as economic factors in publishing. The language used by the author moves from plain English in the more general chapters to more technical terminology understandable by practitioners in the more specific chapters.
