Chelmsford Public Library

The book in the Renaissance, Andrew Pettegree

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. [362]-407) and index

illustrationsportraitsmaps

index present

non fiction

The book in the Renaissance

bibliography

424454760

Andrew Pettegree

"The dawn of print was a major turning point in the early modern world. It rescued ancient learning from obscurity, transformed knowledge of the natural and physical world, and brought the thrill of book ownership to the masses. But, as Andrew Pettegree reveals, the story of the post-Guttenberg world was rather more complicated than we have often come to believe. The Book in the Renaissance reconstructs the first 150 years of the world of print, exploring the complex web of religious, economic and cultural concerns surrounding the printed word. From its very beginnings, the printed book had to straddle financial and religious imperatives, as well as the very different requirements and constraints of the many countries who embraced it, and, as Pettegree argues, the process was far from a runaway success. More than ideas, the success or failure of books depended upon patrons and markets, precarious strategies and the thwarting of piracy, and the ebb and flow of popular demand. Pettegree crafts an authoritative, lucid and truly pioneering work of cultural history illuminating one of the greatest developments in the evolution of European society."--Book jacket

Part. 1. Beginnings -- The book before print -- The invention of printing -- Renaissance encounters : the crisis of print -- Part. 2. Consolidation -- The creation of a European book market -- Book town Wittenberg -- Luther's legacy -- First with the news -- Polite recreations -- At school -- Part. 3. Conflict -- The literature of conflict -- The search for order -- Market forces -- Part. 4. New worlds -- Science and exploration -- Healing -- Building a library -- Word and the street -- A note on sources : Mapping the geography of print -- Appendix : A summary of printed outputs throughout Europe, 1450-1600