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Title details for Printer's Error by Rebecca Romney - Available

Printer's Error

Irreverent Stories from Book History

by Rebecca Romney
J. P. Romney
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Since the Gutenberg Bible first went on sale in 1455, printing has been viewed as one of the highest achievements of human innovation. But the march of progress hasn't been smooth; downright bizarre is more like it. Printer's Error chronicles some of the strangest and most humorous episodes in the history of Western printing.
Take, for example, the Gutenberg Bible. While the book is regarded as the first printed work in the Western world, Gutenberg's name doesn't appear anywhere on it. Today, Johannes Gutenberg is recognized as the father of Western printing. But for the first few hundred years after the invention of the printing press, no one knew who printed the first book. This long-standing mystery took researchers down a labyrinth of ancient archives and libraries, and unearthed surprising details, such as the fact that Gutenberg's financier sued him, repossessed his printing equipment, and started his own printing business afterward.
Like the works of Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, and Ken Jennings, Printer's Error is a rollicking ride through the annals of time and the printed word.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 14, 2017

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781515994770
      • File size: 251279 KB
      • Duration: 08:43:29

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This collection of strange anecdotes from the history of printing could have just been black-and-white and possibly not read all over. But the Romneys put far too much color in this volume for that to happen. And coauthor J.P. Romney successfully transfers the book's wickedly sarcastic tone to his narration. He slyly uses the writings of important historical characters to bring them to life, including a financially wounded Charles Dickens, the likely insane English illustrator William Moore, and the maligned feminist author Mary Wollstonecraft. He keeps listeners laughing so much that they don't realize how much they're learning. Romney makes the point that printing is much more than Gutenberg--whose name doesn't even appear in the famous Bible he printed. He makes education fun, always a difficult task. D.E.M. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 13, 2017
      Rare-book dealer and Pawn Stars expert Rebecca Romney and her husband, writer J.P. Romney (The Monster on the Road Is Me), dive into the history of the printed book with this treasure trove of the stories behind legendary books and their authors. The duo discuss forgeries of works by Galileo and Shakespeare as well as the difficulties of verifying the first printed book in Western history, the Gutenberg Bible, which was never signed by printer Johannes Gutenberg, making copies nearly impossible to identify. Some readers will be surprised to learn that even the concept of authorship is a relatively new one; through the Middle Ages, writers were viewed as mere channels for the Almighty to communicate with, and thus went unpaid. As for copyright, today’s authors have Charles Dickens to thank for fighting for both credit and proper remuneration for their efforts, according to the Romneys. Additional anecdotes—such as the story behind the creation of the revolutionary mapping technique called the Mercator Projection and the destruction of “one of the world’s most beautiful fonts,” the Doves Type—add breadth to this terrific collection.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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