The Hand-Produced Book. By David Diringer. (Hutchinson. 60s.) LIKE The
Alphabet, published a few years ago, Dr. Diringer 's new book is a remarkable work of synthetic scholarship, a history of " the book " from scratchings in prehistoric caves to the invention of printing. For sheer` weight of information there is no equal to it as a study of the physical appear- ance of the hand-produced book, and the wealth of illustrations adds greatly to its value. There are details of the Alexandrian method of making papyrus, new information about the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and an analysis of Maya stelae hieroglyphs and post-Columbian codices—the range is vast.
Unfortunately Dr. Diringer has denied himself any aesthetic or, indeed, much theoretical purpose. He makes some play with the phrase" the book follows religion," but the thesis is self-evident and he comes to no illuminating conclusions. Little attempt is made to relate " the book " to the various civilisations mentioned. For instance, nothing is said of the discovery in the twelfth century of the original copy of the Pandects of Justinian, and its immense effect on the civilisation of the whole of Europe. The book is intended for the general reader and its academic aloofness from taste or opinion seems out of place. Ugly cunei- forms, oppressive black-letter and superb Greek uncials are all written of as if they were of equal aesthetic value. Many fas- cinating pages are devoted to ancient Korean books, but the greatest period in the entire history of the hand-produced book—.- the Italian Renaissance—is hardly men- tioned at all, no word about the beautiful edition of Virgil made for Petrarch by Simone Martini, now in the Ambrosian, no example from or mention of that staggering collection of books made by Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici for the Laurentian Library. This unaccountable disregard for the Italian contribution is the gravest fault in a book which promises much but is, finally, a disappointment.
M. s.
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