The invention of rare books : private interest and public memory, 1600-1840 /

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:McKitterick, David, author.
Imprint:Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2018.
©2018
Description:xii, 450 pages ; 26 cm
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11682793
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781108428323
1108428320
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:"When does a book that is merely old become a rarity and an object of desire? David McKitterick examines, for the first time, the development of the idea of rare books, and why they matter. Studying examples from across Europe, he explores how this idea took shape in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and how collectors, the book trade and libraries gradually came together to identify canons that often remain the same today. In a world that many people found to be over-supplied with books, the invention of rare books was a process of selection. As books are one of the principal means of memory, this process also created particular kinds of remembering. Taking a European perspective, McKitterick looks at these interests as they developed from being matters of largely private concern and curiosity, to the larger public and national responsibilities of the first half of the nineteenth century"--
Description
Summary:When does a book that is merely old become a rarity and an object of desire? David McKitterick examines, for the first time, the development of the idea of rare books, and why they matter. Studying examples from across Europe, he explores how this idea took shape in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and how collectors, the book trade and libraries gradually came together to identify canons that often remain the same today. In a world that many people found to be over-supplied with books, the invention of rare books was a process of selection. As books are one of the principal means of memory, this process also created particular kinds of remembering. Taking a European perspective, McKitterick looks at these interests as they developed from being matters of largely private concern and curiosity, to the larger public and national responsibilities of the first half of the nineteenth century.
Physical Description:xii, 450 pages ; 26 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9781108428323
1108428320