Description

Book Synopsis
From the author of the highly praised The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things comes another captivating history of the seemingly mundane: the book and its storage.

Most of us take for granted that our books are vertical on our shelves with the spines facing out, but Henry Petroski, inveterately curious engineer, didn't.  As a result, readers are guided along the astonishing evolution from papyrus scrolls boxed at Alexandria to upright books shelved at the Library of Congress. Unimpeachably researched, enviably written, and charmed with anecdotes from Seneca to Samuel Pepys to a nineteenth-century bibliophile who had to climb over his books to get into bed, The Book on the Bookshelf is indispensable for anyone who loves books.

The Book on the Bookshelf

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    £14.39

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    RRP £15.99 – you save £1.60 (10%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Thu 18 Jun 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Henry Petroski

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      View other formats and editions of The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski

      Publisher: Random House USA Inc
      Publication Date: 12/09/2000
      ISBN13: 9780375706394, 978-0375706394
      ISBN10: 0375706399
      Also in:
      ELT & Literary Studies Literary studies: general

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      From the author of the highly praised The Pencil and The Evolution of Useful Things comes another captivating history of the seemingly mundane: the book and its storage.

      Most of us take for granted that our books are vertical on our shelves with the spines facing out, but Henry Petroski, inveterately curious engineer, didn't.  As a result, readers are guided along the astonishing evolution from papyrus scrolls boxed at Alexandria to upright books shelved at the Library of Congress. Unimpeachably researched, enviably written, and charmed with anecdotes from Seneca to Samuel Pepys to a nineteenth-century bibliophile who had to climb over his books to get into bed, The Book on the Bookshelf is indispensable for anyone who loves books.

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