The History of the Book by Professor James Raven

Event – March 22, 2023

March 22, 2023
4:00 pm
Savannah Senior Citizens Learning Center, 3025 Bull St.

The History of the Book by Professor James Raven

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. 

In this richly illustrated lecture, Professor James Raven, who is a world authority on the history of books, takes us from the earliest inscribed shells, stones, and clay tablets through to modern digital books. This global journey invites comparisons between different materials, including papyrus, bamboo, and plant leaves, and different ways of creating texts by writing, painting, imprinting, and digitising. Not to mention it offers a vivid history of the different influences of books in contrasting times and places.

Professor James Raven is a former Chair (and current Deputy Chair) of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth, having served the ESU for over 40 years.

He is a Fellow of The British Academy, a Fellow of Magdalene College - University of Cambridge, and a Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. He is also a former Professor at the University of Oxford. 

Professor Raven is the author of numerous books and articles on literary and cultural history and is a frequent contributor to newspapers, radio and television. 

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