 Pepys' Book Press #1, ca. 1666 "While we often extol the wonders a bookshelf holds, the shelf itself generally gets short shrift. So it is with genuine appreciation that I welcome this wittily drawn, wittily written essay to our pages. The resourceful Marshall Brooks surveys shelves from Mesopotamia to the Library of Congress . . . celebrating his noble subject in its changing dimensions and timeless purpose." A COMMON READER "Who would expect a book, with so mundane a subject, to spark such fun? This wonderful little book did that and more to this writer. . . . Who but a man of imagination would see in a supposed supporting plank such history, such background. From the carved oak bookcases replete with chains . . . to the whimsy of Napoleon’s disposing of just read books, on up to the ubiquitous cindercrete of the happenen’ years, Mr. Brooks pays tribute to the bookshelf’s supporting role in literacy. . . . All in all this is a fine book to add to any letterpress aficionado’s collection. Books such as these prove that one can never dismiss the obvious. It often is a case of finding a gem in plain sight." THE REPORTER Moosejaw, Saskatchewan |
A Brief Illustrated History of the BookshelfPublished by Birch Brook Press, 1998 |
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