The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental (Paperback)

by David Diringer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Rich authoritative study of the book before Gutenberg. Nearly 200 photographic facsimiles of priceless documents. Comprehensive.

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Product Details Paperback: 604 pages Publisher: Dover Publications (March 1, 1982) Language: English ISBN-10: 0486242439 ISBN-13: 978-0486242439 Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #677,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Citations (learn more)

5 books cite this book:

• Guardians of Letters: Literacy, Power, and the Transmitters of Early Christian Literature by Kim Haines-Eitzen in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion by William Albert Graham in Back Matter
• The Future of the Page (Studies in Book and Print Culture) by Peter Stoicheff on page 34
• Cultural Amnesia: America's Future and the Crisis of Memory by Stephen Bertman in Back Matter
• The History of Linguistics in Europe: From Plato to 1600 (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics) by Vivien Law on page 67

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	65% buy the item featured on this page: The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental 4.2 out of 5 stars (4)
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4 Reviews 5 star:  (2) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 15 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Comprehensive and Stimuating, August 16, 2002 By  Timothy Dougal (Madison, Wi United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    "The Book Before Printing" by David Deringer is more than a book for bibliophiles: it is a mind-bogglingly comprehensive history of the roots of our common intellectual culture. From the oldest fragment of an Egyptian book c.2600 BCE, through clay tablets, papyrus, leather and parchment scrolls, to codices (that is, books as we have come to know them) in the early centuries of the Common Era, from prehistoric and non-literate symbolic/memnonic schemes, through early writing systems of Africa and Asia, to alphabets and scripts, Diringer examines every bit of evidence that was available up to the early 50's, when the book was written, to reveal archeological, cultural, linguistic, and religious trends through the millenia, and how scribes functioned, in their various settings, to bring us what remains of of distant literary past. He delves into the remotest corners of the globe for unexpected insights and manuscripts. Illustrations are abundant and well-described. I can only wonder what an edition updated to include all the most recent discoveries would be like. Probably huge! But even as it is,this book is a goldmine of information, and a feast for the mind. 23 of 25 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars An Exceedingly Convenient Reference!, May 31, 2003 By  Brian A. Glennon "BAG" (South Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews The chief value of this work is in its collection of photographs of rare and unique manuscripts and its mass of empirical data; therefore this effort of Dr. David Diringer - 'THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental (c.1953, 1982), becomes a nice compendium of evidence rather than a plausible theory of the development of the modern book. Indeed this author's use of the word 'book' to designate any written material is a source of ambiguity as Dr. Diringer further refined his definition of a book to only the written word found "on perishible material such as wood, leather, or papyrus" (p. 48). So according to this author, only the written word found on clay, rolls, scrolls, leather parchments, linen, and waxed boards up to and including the codex are books - but not stone tablets, cave etchings, monument markings or metal stampings. Though other studies begin their histories of the book with the codex (e.g. THE CODEX by Dr. Roberts; and THE BIRTH OF THE CODEX by C. H. Roberts), this author's extension of his book definition back to the furthest reaches of human civilization had inadvertently provided the reader with such a broad survey of data that few students will not be instructed by the many well chosen photographs of the rare and ancient manuscripts the author collected to use as examples of books. In fact, the sheer volume of the photocopied documents almost compelled a reader to turn another page. In chronological order, each photocopy of a scroll, parchment, or codex coincided with Dr. Diringer's explanation of a period in a country's ancient history in which that document was produced. (This is a point where the author's expertise in writing tended to displace his main theme of book history). Yet some documents have achieved such a mythical quality, as 'Beowulf' or the 'Iliad' that it is striking to see a clear, legible photocopy on a following page. Dr. Diringer made his work further interesting by juxtaposing several copies of ancient manuscripts for either penmanship, language, material, or size comparison. This is exceedingly convenient as the author provided a quick reference of distinguishing artifact features; such as: "National Hands" (p. 286) of 7th century Merovingian with the Visogothic cursive; and the 9th century Roman minuscule with the 10th century Benevendon script. The author provided a clear view of such esoteric documents as: the Lipit-Ishtar Law Code (4,500 B.C.); the Codex Sinaitus (4th century), and the earliest Japanese written document - the 'Shotoku Taishi (573 a.d.). Thus the mere perusal of THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING will become a learning experience as the bibliophile might discover a rare document containing an alphabet or language (or the existence of a race) new to his studies. The sheer beauty and antiquity of some of these manuscripts, such as 'The Book of Kells', or the 15th century illuminated copy of 'Chaucer', and the clay Summerian tablet of the 'Hammurabi Law Code' written in cuneiform, are magnificent. Originally published as THE HAND PRODUCED BOOK (c. 1953); THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING is not so much a history of the book as it is many histories of the written word. Containing few mistakes (I found one spelling error on page 75; and the original title is still extant on top of each text page) Dr. Diringer had produced an excellent and valuable reference tool for the general reader as well as the scholar. If you need to choose a subject topic for an English, History, Archaeological, or palaeological disertation then THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING might help you in that choice. So even if you don't believe that a scroll is a book, Dr. David Diringer's work is still worth reading. 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars For bibliophiles and bibliomanes, February 20, 2002 By  Les W (San Diego) - See all my reviews This is a reprint of Diringer's "The Hand-produced Book". If you like books, you will LOVE this. You will beat yourself on the head and say, "Where has it been all my life?" Diringer wrote "The Alphabet" and "The Illuminated Book", as well. All of these are easily accessible to the educated layman, and each is a rollicking good time. Alphabet and Illuminated are out of print. I found each of the 3 titles through the interlibrary loan program, but it would be a groove to actually own them. Diringer is erudite, with a charming style. The illustrations in all the books are excellent. What are you waiting for? THIS IS IT.		Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly insightful, if a bit dry This is the one book you need if you ever want to research "books" before the printing press. It is a great book, and interesting to read if you are interested in the subject... Read more Published 4 days ago by Dean van Halen Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 604 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (March 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486242439
• ISBN-13: 978-0486242439
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #677,576 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Comprehensive and Stimuating, August 16, 2002

By	Timothy Dougal (Madison, Wi United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The Book Before Printing" by David Deringer is more than a book for bibliophiles: it is a mind-bogglingly comprehensive history of the roots of our common intellectual culture. From the oldest fragment of an Egyptian book c.2600 BCE, through clay tablets, papyrus, leather and parchment scrolls, to codices (that is, books as we have come to know them) in the early centuries of the Common Era, from prehistoric and non-literate symbolic/memnonic schemes, through early writing systems of Africa and Asia, to alphabets and scripts, Diringer examines every bit of evidence that was available up to the early 50's, when the book was written, to reveal archeological, cultural, linguistic, and religious trends through the millenia, and how scribes functioned, in their various settings, to bring us what remains of of distant literary past. He delves into the remotest corners of the globe for unexpected insights and manuscripts. Illustrations are abundant and well-described. I can only wonder what an edition updated to include all the most recent discoveries would be like. Probably huge! But even as it is,this book is a goldmine of information, and a feast for the mind.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Exceedingly Convenient Reference!, May 31, 2003

By	Brian A. Glennon "BAG" (South Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

The chief value of this work is in its collection of photographs of rare and unique manuscripts and its mass of empirical data; therefore this effort of Dr. David Diringer - 'THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental (c.1953, 1982), becomes a nice compendium of evidence rather than a plausible theory of the development of the modern book.

Indeed this author's use of the word 'book' to designate any written material is a source of ambiguity as Dr. Diringer further refined his definition of a book to only the written word found "on perishible material such as wood, leather, or papyrus" (p. 48). So according to this author, only the written word found on clay, rolls, scrolls, leather parchments, linen, and waxed boards up to and including the codex are books - but not stone tablets, cave etchings, monument markings or metal stampings.

Though other studies begin their histories of the book with the codex (e.g. THE CODEX by Dr. Roberts; and THE BIRTH OF THE CODEX by C. H. Roberts), this author's extension of his book definition back to the furthest reaches of human civilization had inadvertently provided the reader with such a broad survey of data that few students will not be instructed by the many well chosen photographs of the rare and ancient manuscripts the author collected to use as examples of books.

In fact, the sheer volume of the photocopied documents almost compelled a reader to turn another page. In chronological order, each photocopy of a scroll, parchment, or codex coincided with Dr. Diringer's explanation of a period in a country's ancient history in which that document was produced. (This is a point where the author's expertise in writing tended to displace his main theme of book history). Yet some documents have achieved such a mythical quality, as 'Beowulf' or the 'Iliad' that it is striking to see a clear, legible photocopy on a following page.

Dr. Diringer made his work further interesting by juxtaposing several copies of ancient manuscripts for either penmanship, language, material, or size comparison. This is exceedingly convenient as the author provided a quick reference of distinguishing artifact features; such as: "National Hands" (p. 286) of 7th century Merovingian with the Visogothic cursive; and the 9th century Roman minuscule with the 10th century Benevendon script. The author provided a clear view of such esoteric documents as: the Lipit-Ishtar Law Code (4,500 B.C.); the Codex Sinaitus (4th century), and the earliest Japanese written document - the 'Shotoku Taishi (573 a.d.). Thus the mere perusal of THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING will become a learning experience as the bibliophile might discover a rare document containing an alphabet or language (or the existence of a race) new to his studies. The sheer beauty and antiquity of some of these manuscripts, such as 'The Book of Kells', or the 15th century illuminated copy of 'Chaucer', and the clay Summerian tablet of the 'Hammurabi Law Code' written in cuneiform, are magnificent.

Originally published as THE HAND PRODUCED BOOK (c. 1953); THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING is not so much a history of the book as it is many histories of the written word. Containing few mistakes (I found one spelling error on page 75; and the original title is still extant on top of each text page) Dr. Diringer had produced an excellent and valuable reference tool for the general reader as well as the scholar. If you need to choose a subject topic for an English, History, Archaeological, or palaeological disertation then THE BOOK BEFORE PRINTING might help you in that choice. So even if you don't believe that a scroll is a book, Dr. David Diringer's work is still worth reading.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For bibliophiles and bibliomanes, February 20, 2002

By	Les W (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This is a reprint of Diringer's "The Hand-produced Book". If you like books, you will LOVE this. You will beat yourself on the head and say, "Where has it been all my life?"
Diringer wrote "The Alphabet" and "The Illuminated Book", as well. All of these are easily accessible to the educated layman, and each is a rollicking good time. Alphabet and Illuminated are out of print. I found each of the 3 titles through the interlibrary loan program, but it would be a groove to actually own them.
Diringer is erudite, with a charming style. The illustrations in all the books are excellent.
What are you waiting for? THIS IS IT.