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Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at 4 PM (ET)
National News
An Ancient and Global History of the Book with Professor James Raven
Sponsored by the ESU Central PA Branch
As James Raven writes, "perhaps we think we know what a book is—it has a cover and a spine and it's usually printed. It might be illustrated and it's usually read, although sometimes not all the way through. But over many thousands of years, books have come in many different material forms and have served many different purposes. What, in fact, is a book? In this richly illustrated talk, Professor Raven takes us from the earliest inscribed shells, stones, and clay tablets through to knotted strings, buffalo hides, illuminated manuscripts, printed codices, and the modern digital age. This global journey invites comparisons between materials such as papyrus, silk, bamboo, and plant leaves, and explores different ways of creating texts by writing, painting, imprinting, and digitizing. In review of all this, he asks what will happen to the book in the future and challenges us to think about wider sensory aspects of the reading experience. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Central PA Branch. ESU Happy Hour programs are online, free, and open to all members and the public. Registration is required. Please register here.
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