Writing systems, alphabets, scripts Books

Book SynopsisDirk Booms is a curator of Roman archaeology at the British Museum. He has special interests in Roman architecture, sculpture, glass and inscriptions and is co-author of Roman Empire: Power and People (British Museum Press, 2013).Table of Contents1. Who put up inscriptions and why? • 2. The Latin language and its Latin script • 3. How to read inscriptions • 4. Imagery and inscription • 5. The art of the stone cutters • 6. Inscriptions today

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Book SynopsisHave you ever wished that you could read the beautiful hieroglyphic script of ancient Egypt for yourself? Now you can, with the help of this practical step-by-step guide. It is suitable for complete beginners, or for anyone who would like to improve their knowledge of the language and culture of ancient Egypt. Mark Collier and Bill Manley have many years of experience teaching non-specialists at courses around the UK, so their approach is tried and tested. From the very beginning you will be introduced to genuine texts from ancient monuments. Each chapter introduces a new aspect of the ancient Egyptian language's hieroglyphic script and encourages you to develop your growing reading skills with practical exercises. The authors concentrate on a fascinating and rewarding group of monuments funerary inscriptions, coffins and tomb scenes. The texts and supporting notes offer a first-hand insight into topics such as the pharaonic administration, family life in ancient Egypt, and anci

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Book SynopsisMandarin Chinese Characters Fast Finder is an entirely new study aid that lets you look up Chinese characters quickly and intuitively from their appearance alone, without knowing their pronunciation, radical or stroke count. This reference book has been designed for dedicated learners of Chinese, as well as general readers with interest in the written Chinese language. Mandarin Chinese Characters Fast Finder features: A thumb-index allowing rapid access to all of the characters by shape rather than etymological radical Clear and easy-to-read layout to facilitate speedy scanning Covers 3,200 characters, including those prescribed for all levels of the HSK Proficiency test Comprehensive information for each character, including: traditional forms, pronunciation, core English meaning, radical, stroke count, HSK grade

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Book SynopsisThe 24 lessons in this book are meant to be used in 3 hours per week of class instruction over one academic year. Students will need another 23 hours of outside practice and review for every hour of class time, using the materials in the accompanying Elementary Mandarin Chinese Workbook .

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Book SynopsisAntonyms in Mind and Brain presents a multi-method empirical investigation of opposition with a particular focus on the processing of opposite pairs and their representation in the mental lexicon. Building on recent cognitive accounts of antonymy which highlight the fundamentally conceptual nature of antonymy, this book outlines previous literature to draw out criteria for good opposites and establish the state of the art on the question whether the strong connection of certain opposite pairs is primarily of a conceptual or lexical nature. presents a detailed cross-linguistic empirical study combining corpus data, speaker judgements and behavioural experiments for a wide range of central (e.g. big:little) and peripheral (e.g. buy:sell; wife:husband) opposite pairs to establish the contribution of individual factors. proposes a model of the representation of opposite pairs in the mental lexicon Table of ContentsPART I Theoretical foundations 1. Introduction 2. Previous perspectives on antonymy PART II Empirical investigation 3. Antonymic and associative strength: evidence from English and German 4. Processing opposite pairs: an antonym-decision task 5. Case studies PART III Theoretical implications 6. Antonyms in mind and brain: towards a psycholinguistic model of opposition 7. Conclusions

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Book SynopsisThis book, the first of its kind, examines how the phonology and grammar of the ancient Egyptian language changed over more than three thousand years of its history, from the first appearance of written documents, c.3250 BC, to the Coptic dialects of the second century AD and later.Trade Review'A major contribution to our understanding of the development of Ancient Egyptian throughout its recorded history, richly exemplified and with a wealth of original insights. Essential reading.' Mark Collier, University of Liverpool'… represents the cutting edge of Egyptological linguistics and is certain to be of interest to all researchers working in the field.' Sami Uljas, University of Basel'This new history of Egyptian-Coptic - the first synthesis of its kind in nearly two decades - presents a rich material and many innovative analyses, benefiting from the author's profound expertise in the earlier textual corpora of Egyptian.' Dr Andréas Stauder, Swiss National Science Foundation and the University of Basel'Essential reading for anyone studying the development of the ancient Egyptian language or who has a more general interest in linguistics and the history of language development.' Ancient EgyptTable of Contents1. Ancient Egyptian; Part I. Phonology: 2. Coptic phonology; 3. Coptic and Egyptian; 4. Correspondents and cognates; 5. Egyptian phonology; Part II. Grammar: 6. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives; 7. Non-verbal predicates; 8. Verbs; 9. Verbs: Egyptian I; 10. Verbs: Egyptian II; 11. Verbs: Egyptian I-II; 12. Subordination.

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Book SynopsisThis book, the first of its kind, examines how the phonology and grammar of the ancient Egyptian language changed over more than three thousand years of its history, from the first appearance of written documents, c.3250 BC, to the Coptic dialects of the second century AD and later. Part One discusses phonology, working backward from the vowels and consonants of Coptic to those that can be deduced for earlier stages of the language. Part Two is devoted to grammar, including both basic components such as nouns and the complex history of the verbal system. The book thus provides both a synchronic description of the five major historical stages of ancient Egyptian and a diachronic analysis of their development and relationship.Trade Review'A major contribution to our understanding of the development of Ancient Egyptian throughout its recorded history, richly exemplified and with a wealth of original insights. Essential reading.' Mark Collier, University of Liverpool'… represents the cutting edge of Egyptological linguistics and is certain to be of interest to all researchers working in the field.' Sami Uljas, University of Basel'This new history of Egyptian-Coptic - the first synthesis of its kind in nearly two decades - presents a rich material and many innovative analyses, benefiting from the author's profound expertise in the earlier textual corpora of Egyptian.' Dr Andréas Stauder, Swiss National Science Foundation and the University of Basel'Essential reading for anyone studying the development of the ancient Egyptian language or who has a more general interest in linguistics and the history of language development.' Ancient EgyptTable of Contents1. Ancient Egyptian; Part I. Phonology: 2. Coptic phonology; 3. Coptic and Egyptian; 4. Correspondents and cognates; 5. Egyptian phonology; Part II. Grammar: 6. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives; 7. Non-verbal predicates; 8. Verbs; 9. Verbs: Egyptian I; 10. Verbs: Egyptian II; 11. Verbs: Egyptian I-II; 12. Subordination.

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Book SynopsisUsing a unique, tried and tested algorithm, this book teaches you how to quickly and efficiently recognise letters and common words in Ukrainian script. Whether you need to quickly be able to read and understand the words around you, or are preparing to learn Ukrainian and want to master the basics, this is the book for you. In this book you will find: ·         An introduction to Ukrainian script and the Cyrillic alphabet ·         Plenty of practice activities to help you recognise each letter of the alphabet ·         Helpful mnemonics to make you remember the shape of each letter ·         Accompanying audio files so you know how to pronounce letters and words ·         Handy tips to help you decipher co

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Book SynopsisIn a world of rapid technological advancements, it can be easy to forget that writing is the original Information Technology, created to transcend the limitations of human memory and to defy time and space. The Writing Revolution picks apart the development of this communication tool to show how it has conquered the world.Trade Review"Anyone interested in the development of writing, even without a background in linguistics, will find the book accessible, while linguists will appreciate the well chosen technical information that is included in the description of each individual system." (Language Documentation & Conservation, 2 December 2009) "In The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the internet, an engaging book that combines accuracy and readability better than any other work on orthographic practices across time and space, Amalia E. Gnanadesikan concurs with the usual view that the complex calendrical system of the Maya's predecessors, the Olmec, was ‘the intellectual stimulus' (80) for the development of writing in Mesoamerica, which she discusses in Ch. 5, ‘Maya glyphs: Calendars of kings'." (Language, 2011) "This informative, yet accessible and entertaining, book will be of interest to readers with an interest in the history and evolution of world languages, as well as to students and instructors looking for a comprehensive and enjoyable overview of the subject.." (Language in Society, 14 December 2009)Table of ContentsList of Illustrations vii Preface xi 1 The First IT Revolution 1 2 Cuneiform: Forgotten Legacy of a Forgotten People 13 3 Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Quest for Eternity 33 4 Chinese: A Love of Paperwork 56 5 Maya Glyphs: Calendars of Kings 79 6 Linear B: The Clerks of Agamemnon 95 7 Japanese: Three Scripts are Better than One 113 8 Cherokee: Sequoyah Reverse-Engineers 133 9 The Semitic Alphabet: Egypt to Manchuria in 3,400 Years 143 10 The Empire of Sanskrit 169 11 King Sejong’s One-Man Renaissance 191 12 Greek Serendipity 208 13 The Age of Latin 229 14 The Alphabet Meets the Machine 249 Appendix: Figures A.1–A.7 273 Further Reading 281 Index 297

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Book SynopsisUsing a unique, tried and tested algorithm, this book teaches you how to quickly and efficiently recognise letters and common words in Hebrew script. Whether you''re travelling and want to understand the words around you, or preparing to learn Hebrew and want to master the basics, this is the book for you.In this book you will find: An introduction to Hebrew script Plenty of practice activities to help you recognise each letter of the alphabet Helpful mnemonics to make you remember the shape of each letter Accompanying audio files so you know how to pronounce letters and words Handy tips to help you decipher common and familiar wordsThe audio for this course can be downloaded from the Teach Yourself Library app or streamed at library.teachyourself.com.Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 80 years.

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Book SynopsisChloé Ragazzoli is Associate Professor of Egyptology at the History Faculty of University Paris Sorbonne, France. She is the author of Eloge de la Ville. Histoire et Littérature (2008) and La grotte des scribes à Deir el-Bahari. La tombe MMA 504 et ses graffiti (forthcoming).Ömür Harmansah is Associate Professor of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. His work focuses on the art and material culture of the ancient Near Eastern world, with particular emphasis on Anatolia, Syria and Mesopotamia. He is the author of Cities and the Shaping of Memory in the Ancient Near East (2013) and Place, Memory and Healing: An Archaeology of Anatolian Rock Monuments (2015). Chiara Salvador is reading for a doctorate in Egyptology at the University of Oxford, UK. Her research treats a corpus of hieratic, hieroglyphic and figural graffiti from the temple complex of Karnak, in modern Luxor with the support of the Centre Franco-Égyptien d'ÉtuTrade ReviewThis volume highlights the enormous value of using ancient graffiti to understand the ancient environment, social interactions, and, ultimately, the human experience. * American Journal of Archaeology *Though historical specificities and differences are made clear in the essays, a shared quality does emerge over this collection. Various approaches are tapped to explain this, most compellingly the idea of marginality discussed in Janine Rogers's "Graffiti and the Medieval Margin". * Times Literary Supplement *Fascinating ... All-in-all this is a nice book which provides a different way of thinking about graffiti. * Graffiti Review *This volume actualizes a unique meeting of different corpora of graffiti, treating graffiti making as a “practice” that is well-embedded in its immediate physical and socio-cultural context. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *These fascinating local studies demonstrate the importance of graffiti as an archival resource and as a topic of rising conceptual significance. * Juliet Fleming, Professor of English, NYU, USA *Offers an excellent introduction to, and many astute observations on, the issues and methodologies involved in studying ancient (and modern) graffiti and is thus recommended to anyone working on this fascinating category of evidence. * Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists *Table of ContentsPreface (C. Ragazzoli, Université de Paris-Sorbonne, France) Introduction (C. Ragazzoli, O. Harmansah, C. Salvador) Part 1: Graffiti and the Landscape (with an introduction by O. Harmansah) Chapter 1: The Scribes’ Cave: Graffiti and the Production of Social Space in Ancient Egypt circa 1500 BC (C. Ragazzoli, Université de Paris-Sorbonne, France) Chapter 2: Christian Graffiti in Egypt: Case Studies on the Theban Mountain (A. Delattre, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Belgium) Chapter 3: Graffiti or Monument? Inscription of Place at Anatolian Rock Reliefs (Ö. Harmansah, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA) Chapter 4: Tweets from Antiquity: Literacy, Graffiti, and Their Uses in the Towns and Deserts of Ancient Arabia (M. Macdonald, University of Oxford, UK) Chapter 5: Gezi Graffiti: Shout-Outs to Resistance and Rebellion in Contemporary Turkey (C. Gruber, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) Part 2: Graffiti and the Wall (with an introduction by C. Salvador) Chapter 6: Gladiators, Greetings, and Poetry: Graffiti in First Century Pompeii (R. Benefiel, Washington and Lee University, USA) Chapter 7: A New Look at Maya Graffiti from Tikal (E. Olton, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA) Chapter 8: Visitors' Inscriptions in the Memphite Pyramid Complexes in Ancient Egypt (c. 1543-1292 BC) (H. Navratilova, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Egyptian Expedition) Chapter 9: Carving Lines and Shaping Monuments: Mortuary Graffiti and Jews in the Ancient Mediterranean (K. Stern, Brooklyn College, USA) Part 3: Graffiti and the Written Page (with an introduction by C. Ragazzoli) Chapter 10: Verses on Walls in Medieval China (G. Dudbridge, University of Oxford, UK) Chapter 11: Graffiti and the Medieval Margin (J. Rogers, Mount Allison University, Canada) Chapter 12: Graffiti under Control: Annotation Practices in Social Book Platforms (M. Jahjah, Université de Paris-Sorbonne, France) Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisGrounded in ethnographic and archival research on the Indonesian island of Bali, More Than Words challenges conventional understandings of textuality and writing as they pertain to the religious traditions of Southeast Asia. Through a nuanced study of Balinese script as employed in rites of healing, sorcery, and self-defense, Richard Fox explores the aims and desires embodied in the production and use of palm-leaf manuscripts, amulets, and other inscribed objects. Balinese often attribute both life and independent volition to manuscripts and copperplate inscriptions, presenting them with elaborate offerings. Commonly addressed with personal honorifics, these script-bearing objects may become partners with humans and other sentient beings in relations of exchange and mutual obligation. The question is how such practices of the living letter may be related to more recently emergent conceptions of writinglinked to academic philology, reform Hinduism, and local politicswhiTrade ReviewIn eight carefully focused and crafted chapters—each of which could stand alone—Fox explores the what, when, where, and why of writing on Bali. Fox more than delivers on his promise to add to an understanding of the local belief that the inscription itself is animated and as such venerated.... Fox more than surpasses his two stated goals: to make a "modest" contribution to the study of the Balinese system of beliefs, and to rethink human writing itself. This important work is a must for those interested in Asian religions and recommended for those interested in humanity's unique abilities. * Choice *Richard Fox has written the present book to elucidate what is going on in Bali and he has managed to do so in an attractive and readable way...The book is a breath of fresh air because of its admirable lucidity. It has been written in an accessible way and does not run away with theoretical language and thus does not alienate non-experts. This is crucial because it can now be read by non-specialists but also by specialists in other fields. It would be extremely useful if this book would be seen as an example of how indeed to study this kind of subject. -- Dick van der Meij, DREAMSEA * Archipel *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgements A Note on Orthography and Related Conventions 1. Manuscripts, Madness 2. Writing and the Idea of Ecology 3. The Meaning of Life, or How to Do Things with Letters 4. Practice and the Problem of Complexity 5. Maintaining a Houseyard as a Practice 6. Tradition as Argument 7. Translational Indeterminacy 8. Wagging the Dog Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisGrounded in ethnographic and archival research on the Indonesian island of Bali, More Than Words challenges conventional understandings of textuality and writing as they pertain to the religious traditions of Southeast Asia. Through a nuanced study of Balinese script as employed in rites of healing, sorcery, and self-defense, Richard Fox explores the aims and desires embodied in the production and use of palm-leaf manuscripts, amulets, and other inscribed objects. Balinese often attribute both life and independent volition to manuscripts and copperplate inscriptions, presenting them with elaborate offerings. Commonly addressed with personal honorifics, these script-bearing objects may become partners with humans and other sentient beings in relations of exchange and mutual obligation. The question is how such practices of the living letter may be related to more recently emergent conceptions of writinglinked to academic philology, reform Hinduism, and local politicswhiTrade ReviewIn eight carefully focused and crafted chapters—each of which could stand alone—Fox explores the what, when, where, and why of writing on Bali. Fox more than delivers on his promise to add to an understanding of the local belief that the inscription itself is animated and as such venerated.... Fox more than surpasses his two stated goals: to make a "modest" contribution to the study of the Balinese system of beliefs, and to rethink human writing itself. This important work is a must for those interested in Asian religions and recommended for those interested in humanity's unique abilities. * Choice *Richard Fox has written the present book to elucidate what is going on in Bali and he has managed to do so in an attractive and readable way...The book is a breath of fresh air because of its admirable lucidity. It has been written in an accessible way and does not run away with theoretical language and thus does not alienate non-experts. This is crucial because it can now be read by non-specialists but also by specialists in other fields. It would be extremely useful if this book would be seen as an example of how indeed to study this kind of subject. -- Dick van der Meij, DREAMSEA * Archipel *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgements A Note on Orthography and Related Conventions 1. Manuscripts, Madness 2. Writing and the Idea of Ecology 3. The Meaning of Life, or How to Do Things with Letters 4. Practice and the Problem of Complexity 5. Maintaining a Houseyard as a Practice 6. Tradition as Argument 7. Translational Indeterminacy 8. Wagging the Dog Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisThe field of text technologies is a capacious analytical framework that focuses on all textual records throughout human history, from the earliest periods of traceable communication—perhaps as early as 60,000 BCE—to the present day. At its core, it examines the material history of communication: what constitutes a text, the purposes for which it is intended, how it functions, and the social ends that it serves. This coursebook can be used to support any pedagogical or research activities in text technologies, the history of the book, the history of information, and textually based work in the digital humanities. Through careful explanations of the field, examinations of terminology and themes, and illustrated case studies of diverse texts—from the Cyrus cylinder to the Eagles' "Hotel California"—Elaine Treharne and Claude Willan offer a clear yet nuanced overview of how humans convey meaning. Text Technologies will enable students and teachers to generate multiple lines of inquiry into how communication—its production, form and materiality, and reception—is crucial to any interpretation of culture, history, and society.Trade Review"Elaine Treharne and Claude Willan provide the big picture of the history of text—all the ways humans have recorded information from cave paintings to paper money and radar. Their work offers a rich conceptual framework and broad historical coverage to orient students and teachers amidst this fascinating landscape. Whether you are interested in theories that guide textual study, case studies about the Cyrus Cylinder or the Zoetrope, or questions of how technologies of inscription evolve, this clear and lucid book has ample material for a wide variety of curious readers."—Andrew Piper, McGill University"If there is one book to assign Humanities and Digital Humanities students that provides a wide range of knowledge about text technologies, it is this one. It introduces principal concepts along with ample historical examples, five diverse case studies, and an explanation about the way in which particular text technologies have shifted over time."—Dene Grigar, Washington State University Vancouver"A lucid and stimulating introduction to the history of text technologies, ranging from cave paintings, clay tablets, and Japanese tsunami memorials to films, mp3s, and iPads. Packed with thought-provoking examples and discussion, this book will engage a wide range of students, encouraging them to explore how the complex interplay between creativity, communication, and technology shapes global cultures."—Andrew Prescott, University of Glasgow

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Book SynopsisThe field of text technologies is a capacious analytical framework that focuses on all textual records throughout human history, from the earliest periods of traceable communication—perhaps as early as 60,000 BCE—to the present day. At its core, it examines the material history of communication: what constitutes a text, the purposes for which it is intended, how it functions, and the social ends that it serves. This coursebook can be used to support any pedagogical or research activities in text technologies, the history of the book, the history of information, and textually based work in the digital humanities. Through careful explanations of the field, examinations of terminology and themes, and illustrated case studies of diverse texts—from the Cyrus cylinder to the Eagles' "Hotel California"—Elaine Treharne and Claude Willan offer a clear yet nuanced overview of how humans convey meaning. Text Technologies will enable students and teachers to generate multiple lines of inquiry into how communication—its production, form and materiality, and reception—is crucial to any interpretation of culture, history, and society.Trade Review"Elaine Treharne and Claude Willan provide the big picture of the history of text—all the ways humans have recorded information from cave paintings to paper money and radar. Their work offers a rich conceptual framework and broad historical coverage to orient students and teachers amidst this fascinating landscape. Whether you are interested in theories that guide textual study, case studies about the Cyrus Cylinder or the Zoetrope, or questions of how technologies of inscription evolve, this clear and lucid book has ample material for a wide variety of curious readers."—Andrew Piper, McGill University"If there is one book to assign Humanities and Digital Humanities students that provides a wide range of knowledge about text technologies, it is this one. It introduces principal concepts along with ample historical examples, five diverse case studies, and an explanation about the way in which particular text technologies have shifted over time."—Dene Grigar, Washington State University Vancouver"A lucid and stimulating introduction to the history of text technologies, ranging from cave paintings, clay tablets, and Japanese tsunami memorials to films, mp3s, and iPads. Packed with thought-provoking examples and discussion, this book will engage a wide range of students, encouraging them to explore how the complex interplay between creativity, communication, and technology shapes global cultures."—Andrew Prescott, University of Glasgow

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Book SynopsisMedieval books that survive today have been through a lot: singed by fire, mottled by mold, eaten by insects, annotated by readers, cut into fragments, or damaged through well-intentioned preservation efforts. In this book, Michelle Warren tells the story of one such manuscript—an Arthurian romance with textual origins in twelfth-century England now diffused across the twenty-first century internet. This trajectory has been propelled by a succession of technologies—from paper manufacture to printing to computers. Together, they have made literary history itself a cultural technology indebted to colonial capitalism. Bringing to bear media theory, medieval literary studies, and book history, Warren shows how digital infrastructures change texts and books, even very old ones. In the process, she uncovers a practice of "tech medievalism" that weaves through the history of computing since the mid-twentieth century; metaphors indebted to King Arthur and the Holy Grail are integral to some of the technologies that now sustain medieval books on the internet. This infrastructural approach to book history illuminates how the meaning of literature is made by many people besides canonical authors: translators, scribes, patrons, readers, collectors, librarians, cataloguers, editors, photographers, software programmers, and many more. Situated at the intersections of the digital humanities, library sciences, literary history, and book history, Holy Digital Grail offers new ways to conceptualize authorship, canon formation, and the definition of a "book."Trade Review"Deeply learned, self-reflective and ethical, and a really good read, Holy Digital Grail represents a lifetime's worth of thinking deeply."—Siân Echard, University of British Columbia"Book history built around the precarious adventures of a single—and singularly embattled—Arthurian manuscript. Michelle Warren is among the most original, creative, and technologically alert medieval scholars of our time."—Paul Strohm, Columbia University"This is the kind of book history scholarship we need in the twenty-first century: connective, imaginative, and unafraid to follow the histories of books wherever they lead. Michelle Warren's fascinating account of a single manuscript and its many afterlives connects our digital present and the medieval past with insight and verve, deftly combining the study of manuscripts, digitization, and media history in a remarkable synthesis."—Alan Galey, University of Toronto"Warren's book is praiseworthy not just for her knowledge about MS 80, but also for her detailed understanding of the work involved in creating digital editions and the clarity with which she explains (what may be) unfamiliar technical terminology and processes to the reader. Warren's focus on the paratextual features of the manuscript, along with the attention she pays to processes of editing, collating, and preservation, make a thoughtful contribution to publishing studies in highlighting much of the unseen (and frequently unacknowledged) work that shapes audience interactions with medieval manuscripts."—Martha Claire Baldon, The Medieval Review"Warren's personal approach presents a tangible expression of how new digital platforms have allowed and even prompted new avenues in manuscript studies."—C. E. M. Henderson, Modern Philology"As with the search for the Holy Grail, the goal is not always entirely tangible, but the journey itself is very enlightening—and, in this case, also entertaining.... [Holy Digital Grail] is about much more than merely tracing the history of the records of one manuscript. The book addresses key questions about interactions between digital infrastructure and book history as well as the making and remaking of books. Ultimately, one could also see behind this a reflection of research data in the humanities, which results from the source, its digitization, and the multilayered enrichment over time."—Luise Borek, H-Sci-Med-Tech"Holy Digital Grail is a carefully constructed and refreshing account of the history of a medieval book, from the origins of its text to its digital existence. Warren's interdisciplinary and reflective approach allows her to successfully disentangle the intricate connections between text, matter, technology, politics, and people."—Renske Annelize Hoff, Jarbuch für KommunikationsgeschichteTable of ContentsIntroduction: Medieval Literature in the Digital Dark Ages 1. Translating Arthur: Books, Texts, Machines 2. Performing Community: Merchants, Chivalry, Data 3. Marking Manuscripts: Makers, Users, Coders 4. Cataloguing Libraries: History, Romance, Website 5. Editing Romance: Poetry, Print, Platform 6. Reproducing Books: Binding, Microfilm, Digital Conclusion: Indexing the Grail, Romancing the Internet

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Book SynopsisMedieval books that survive today have been through a lot: singed by fire, mottled by mold, eaten by insects, annotated by readers, cut into fragments, or damaged through well-intentioned preservation efforts. In this book, Michelle Warren tells the story of one such manuscript—an Arthurian romance with textual origins in twelfth-century England now diffused across the twenty-first century internet. This trajectory has been propelled by a succession of technologies—from paper manufacture to printing to computers. Together, they have made literary history itself a cultural technology indebted to colonial capitalism. Bringing to bear media theory, medieval literary studies, and book history, Warren shows how digital infrastructures change texts and books, even very old ones. In the process, she uncovers a practice of "tech medievalism" that weaves through the history of computing since the mid-twentieth century; metaphors indebted to King Arthur and the Holy Grail are integral to some of the technologies that now sustain medieval books on the internet. This infrastructural approach to book history illuminates how the meaning of literature is made by many people besides canonical authors: translators, scribes, patrons, readers, collectors, librarians, cataloguers, editors, photographers, software programmers, and many more. Situated at the intersections of the digital humanities, library sciences, literary history, and book history, Holy Digital Grail offers new ways to conceptualize authorship, canon formation, and the definition of a "book."Trade Review"Deeply learned, self-reflective and ethical, and a really good read, Holy Digital Grail represents a lifetime's worth of thinking deeply."—Siân Echard, University of British Columbia"Book history built around the precarious adventures of a single—and singularly embattled—Arthurian manuscript. Michelle Warren is among the most original, creative, and technologically alert medieval scholars of our time."—Paul Strohm, Columbia University"This is the kind of book history scholarship we need in the twenty-first century: connective, imaginative, and unafraid to follow the histories of books wherever they lead. Michelle Warren's fascinating account of a single manuscript and its many afterlives connects our digital present and the medieval past with insight and verve, deftly combining the study of manuscripts, digitization, and media history in a remarkable synthesis."—Alan Galey, University of Toronto"Warren's book is praiseworthy not just for her knowledge about MS 80, but also for her detailed understanding of the work involved in creating digital editions and the clarity with which she explains (what may be) unfamiliar technical terminology and processes to the reader. Warren's focus on the paratextual features of the manuscript, along with the attention she pays to processes of editing, collating, and preservation, make a thoughtful contribution to publishing studies in highlighting much of the unseen (and frequently unacknowledged) work that shapes audience interactions with medieval manuscripts."—Martha Claire Baldon, The Medieval Review"Warren's personal approach presents a tangible expression of how new digital platforms have allowed and even prompted new avenues in manuscript studies."—C. E. M. Henderson, Modern Philology"As with the search for the Holy Grail, the goal is not always entirely tangible, but the journey itself is very enlightening—and, in this case, also entertaining.... [Holy Digital Grail] is about much more than merely tracing the history of the records of one manuscript. The book addresses key questions about interactions between digital infrastructure and book history as well as the making and remaking of books. Ultimately, one could also see behind this a reflection of research data in the humanities, which results from the source, its digitization, and the multilayered enrichment over time."—Luise Borek, H-Sci-Med-Tech"Holy Digital Grail is a carefully constructed and refreshing account of the history of a medieval book, from the origins of its text to its digital existence. Warren's interdisciplinary and reflective approach allows her to successfully disentangle the intricate connections between text, matter, technology, politics, and people."—Renske Annelize Hoff, Jarbuch für KommunikationsgeschichteTable of ContentsIntroduction: Medieval Literature in the Digital Dark Ages 1. Translating Arthur: Books, Texts, Machines 2. Performing Community: Merchants, Chivalry, Data 3. Marking Manuscripts: Makers, Users, Coders 4. Cataloguing Libraries: History, Romance, Website 5. Editing Romance: Poetry, Print, Platform 6. Reproducing Books: Binding, Microfilm, Digital Conclusion: Indexing the Grail, Romancing the Internet

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Book Synopsis'Marvellous . . . I read it with astonished delight . . . It is equally scholarly and entertaining.' - Jan Morris 'Quirky and compelling.' - The Times Once we've learned it as children, few of us think much of the alphabet and its familiar sing-song order. And yet the order of the alphabet, that simple knowledge that we take for granted, plays a major role in our adult lives. From the school register to the telephone book, from dictionaries and encyclopaedias to library shelves, our lives are ordered from A to Z. Long before Google searches, this magical system of organization gave us the ability to sift through centuries of thought, knowledge and literature, allowing us to sort, to file, and to find the information we have, and to locate the information we need. In A Place for Everything, acclaimed historian Judith Flanders draws our attention to both the neglected ubiquity of the alphabet and the long, complex history of its rise to prominence. For, while the order of the alphabet itself became fixed very soon after letters were first invented, their ability to sort and store and organize proved far less obvious. To many of our forebears, the idea of of organizing things by the random chance of the alphabet rather than by established systems of hierarchy or typology lay somewhere between unthinkable and disrespectful.A Place for Everything fascinatingly lays out the gradual triumph of alphabetical order, from its possible earliest days as a sorting tool in the Great Library of Alexandria in the third century BCE, to its current decline in prominence in our digital age of Wikipedia and Google. Along the way, the reader is enlightened and entertained with a wonderful cast of unknown facts, characters and stories from the great collector Robert Cotton, who denominated his manuscripts with the names of the busts of the Roman emperors surmounting his book cases, to the unassuming sixteenth- century London bookseller who ushered in a revolution by listing his authors by 'sirname' first.Trade ReviewMarvellous . . . I read it with astonished delight . . . It is equally scholarly and entertaining. -- Jan MorrisQuirky and compelling . . . She is a meticulous historian with a taste for the offbeat; the story of the alphabet suits her well . . . Fascinating. -- Dan Jones * Sunday Times *A library and academic essential. -- Libby Purves * The Times *One of the many fascinations of Judith Flanders’s book is that it reveals what a weird, unlikely creation the alphabet is. -- Joe Moran * Guardian *Judith Flanders’s A Place for Everything presents itself as a history of alphabetical order, but in fact it is more than that. Rather, as the title suggests, it offers something like a general history of the various ways humans have sorted and filed the world around them – a Collison –level view of the matter, in which alphabetical order is just one system among many.’ -- Dennis Duncan * The Spectator *Judith Flanders has a knack for making odd subjects accessible . . . In A Place for Everything, the popular historian paints alphabetisation as one of our most radical acts. . . Flanders retains a sense of fun . . . finds contemporary resonance in humanity's search for order. * i *Praise for Judith Flanders' previous book, Christmas: A Biography: 'A catalogue of colourful information, and as surprising an assortment of items as any you might find heaped up under a tree.' -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Observer *A well-researched account. There are more footnotes here than there are presents under a Rockefeller Christmas tree. Indeed, the book is stuffed with facts – enough to satiate even the most ravenous postprandial taste for quizzing. * Sunday Times *[An] entertaining biography . . . Following the fine tradition of light entertainment Christmas books, Judith Flanders provides lots of trivia . . . However, there is much more to it than that. Flanders is a respected social historian, best known for studies on Victorian life, and the strength of this warm book lies in its quiet erudition. * The Times *Judith Flanders . . . likes Christmas (I think), but she loves reality and its awkward, amusing facts. (A previous book of hers, Inside the Victorian Home, is deep, bright and encompassing.) * New York Times *The non-fiction I most enjoyed . . . an excellent subject, carried out with exemplary care and authority. -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisSwim through an ocean of facts and fun in Sharkabet, 2nd Edition, newly revised with updated facts and 9 brand new images that kids (and adults!) can sink their teeth into! Featuring Ray Troll''s spectacular art, Sharkabet, 2nd Edition takes you through the ABCs of different shark varieties, both living and extinct, sharing fascinating and bizarre facts along the way. Colorful, eye-popping images accompany the catchy factoids, making this book a swimmingly good read. So dive in and learn more about these cartilaginous creatures swimming all around the world!

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