Paper Before Print by Jonathan M Bloom
Like the printing press, typewriter, and computer, paper has been a crucial agent for the dissemination of information. This engaging book presents an important new chapter in paper’s history: how its use in Islamic lands during the Middle Ages influenced almost every aspect of medieval life. Focusing on the spread of paper from the early eighth century, when Muslims in West Asia acquired Chinese knowledge of paper and papermaking, to five centuries later, when they transmitted this knowledge to Christians in Spain and Sicily, the book reveals how paper utterly transformed the passing of knowledge and served as a bridge between cultures. Jonathan Bloom traces the earliest history of paper—how it was invented in China over 2,000 years ago, how it entered the Islamic lands of West Asia and North Africa, and how it spread to northern Europe. He explores the impact of paper on the development of writing, books, mathematics, music, art, architecture, and even cooking. And he discusses why Europe was so quick to adopt paper from the Islamic lands and why the Islamic lands were so slow to accept printing in return. Together the beautifully written text and delightful illustrations (of papermaking techniques and the many uses to which paper was put) give new luster and importance to a now-humble material.
"A very ambitious book of wide intellectual scope and down-to-earth relevance to the humanities - not just to the study of Islamic cultureIt is brimful of ideas and fizzes with life." Robert Hillenbrand, University of Edinburgh
Jonathan M. Bloom, Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College, is coauthor of The Art and Architecture of Islam, also published by Yale University Press.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780300089554 |
| ISBN 10 | 0300089554 |
| Title | Paper Before Print |
| Author | Jonathan M Bloom |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
| Year published | 2001-10-11 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |