An Inquiry into the Nature and Form of the Books of the Ancients
With a History of the Art of Bookbinding, from the Times of the Greeks and Romans to the Present Day

This important work on the physical history of the book and bookbinding was first published in 1837.

John Hannett (Author)

9781108024822, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 December 2010

248 pages, 30 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.32 kg

John Andrews Annett was the pseudonym of John Hannett, a printer and a pioneer in the study of modern and historical bookbinding methods. An Inquiry into the Nature and Form of the Books of the Ancients was published in 1837, following the success of Bibliopegia, his manual of bookbinding techniques. Having outlined the various ways in which written records were kept, and the development of the codex and of printing, Hannett devotes most of the book to the history of bookbinding. The book is well researched and illustrated, with many quotations from earlier works to support his clearly written narrative. Wills and accounts often describe books in terms of their binding, providing a way of following changing fashions in book coverings. He examines continental and oriental bindings as well as English, before discussing modern binding practice and practitioners.

Preface
1. On the records and writings of the earliest people
their form, and method of preservation
2. Books from their first known form, and bookbinding in the times of the Greeks and Romans
3. Monastic and other bindings up to the invention of printing
4. English binding and binders, from the invention of printing to the eighteenth century, more particularly as relates to materials and finish
5. English binding and binders, from the invention of printing to the eighteenth century, in reference to the styles of workmanship, and some other incidental peculiarities
6. Foreign binding and binders, from the invention of printing, to the introduction of modern bookbinding
7. Modern bookbinding
8. Foreign bindings possessing peculiarities not before described
9. Sketches and biographical notices of binders, amateur professors, and others, connected with the art
Conclusion
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]