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The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe
What difference did printing make? Although the importance of the advent of printing for the Western world has long been recognized, it was Elizabeth Eisenstein in her monumental, two-volume work, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, who provided the first full-scale treatment of the subject. This illustrated and abridged edition provides a stimulating survey of the c...more
Paperback, Abridged, 384 pages
Published
September 12th 2005
by Cambridge University Press
(first published 1983)
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I derived particular enjoyment from the afterword, in which Eisenstein went after everyone who reviewed her book and told her it was wrong. Ah, academic bitchslaps. v. enjoyable.
Anyway: argues that printing led to the formation of new ideas not because it encouragement the printing and therefore dissemination of those new ideas (it didn't, necessarily) but because it encouraged the wide diffusion of many older, competing ideas that fuelled curiosity and the desire to make sense of it all. Respon...more
Anyway: argues that printing led to the formation of new ideas not because it encouragement the printing and therefore dissemination of those new ideas (it didn't, necessarily) but because it encouraged the wide diffusion of many older, competing ideas that fuelled curiosity and the desire to make sense of it all. Respon...more
Really enjoyed this, and I see why it became a must-read for the digerati.
The book is fueled by the frustration that, on the one hand, historians say that printing led to immense changes in Europea's culture, and on the other hand, ignore the specifics of printing's impact in more detailed histories of the Reformation, later Renaissance, and scientific revolution.
What makes it so thought provoking is that she has a real sensibility to network effects (avant la lettre), understanding how books...more
The book is fueled by the frustration that, on the one hand, historians say that printing led to immense changes in Europea's culture, and on the other hand, ignore the specifics of printing's impact in more detailed histories of the Reformation, later Renaissance, and scientific revolution.
What makes it so thought provoking is that she has a real sensibility to network effects (avant la lettre), understanding how books...more
Harry Truman once said "The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know." He was guided throughout his political career by the lessons of history, a subject in which he was very well read. And studying history shows us how much our current issues can be better understood by their antecedents. As Mark Twain said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes." Why does any of this matter? Well, right now we are going through a revolution in media known as the Internet. Th...more
I enjoy reading about the history of printing, but this book is dense and dry and is more focused on being scholarly than on being readable. It does contain dozens of illustrations of early printing, which helped lighten the weight of the prose. Another drawback is that the author used the afterword to carry on with an academic spat, which some people find lively but I thought it was obnoxious and silly.
A better book about the history of printing is "Out of the Flames" by Lawrence and Nancy Gold...more
A better book about the history of printing is "Out of the Flames" by Lawrence and Nancy Gold...more
Mar 26, 2008
Jon
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people that want to bore other people at parties
Eisenstein's primary thrust is that the invention of the printing press was a major, causal factor in the Reformation, the (later) Renaissance, and what would become the Western scientific tradition. The emphasis on causality has, ahem, caused her to come under fire from numerous angles, primarily because it seems to deemphasize the social/political/economic/cultural context of the period. I agree with this point, although concede that the invention certainly altered the landscape. Beyond her ma...more
While Eisenstein's argument has some holes including a lack of primary sources, an absolutist stance, and a denial of the continued importance of manuscripts alongside print, my biggest problem with this book is her writing style. She is a rambling author who intersperses every chapter with block quotes from other scholars without giving the quotes any context. She is so concerned with comparing her argument to other scholars' in the field that she looses the attention of the reader.
Read for my History of Books and Printing class. Definitely had some interesting information in it, but a lot of it was really dry and boring.
Much better than the earlier, 2-volume version. Save yourself some time and just read this.
I never would have finished (or started) this book if it weren't for a class. It would have been much better if it were half as long and half as redundant. Interesting ideas buried in the blah-blah of academic writing.
Eisenstein is, first and foremost, a horrible writer. The information was interesting but she tries so hard to remain separate from book history that it is hard to take this book seriously.
Unfortunately I was not impressed.
Unfortunately I was not impressed.
ok...so i never finished it. shame on me since it was assigned class reading. but i'm sure if you're a major history buff this is pretty fascinating. however, my history is very lacking and most of the references went over my head. i'm not going to finish it if i don't have to. sorry.
One volume edition of Eisenstein's prior two volume study of the impact of the printing press on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe. An academic rather than popular treatment, which is fine by me.
I loved this book. I thought it was fascinating and well-written.
May 21, 2013
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M
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3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
academic,
books,
1980-1990,
cartography,
1970-1980,
nonfiction,
technology,
history,
language,
creativity
Apr 01, 2013
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Sep 09, 2011 07:14am