The Alphabetic Labyrinth: The Letters in History and Imagination

by Johanna Drucker

Hardcover with unclipped dust jacket. Minor edgewear to jacket and crease to rear flap. Grey cloth boards are lightly rubbed at edges, rear pastedown has a watermark in the lower leading corner. Spine is tight and pages are clean and unmarked throughout. AD

Genres: Language, Nonfiction, History, Linguistics, Reference, Visual Art, Design

1000 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Johanna Drucker, book artist, visual theorist, and cultural critic, is Martin and Bernard Breslauer Professor in the Department of Information Studies at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Punk]

Borrowed this from the library. It looks very detailed, with lots of great photographs and sketches, but also far too intense for me right now. It's a very big book.

[Mjhancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drucker recounts the history of the alphabet, with a focus on the symbolic meaning people have afforded it over the century. The book is divided into 10 chapters, which can roughly be thought of as two background chapters, and eight that correspond to various historical periods in Western culture, and how the alphabet was regarded in them. Chapter 3 starts with the Greek and Roman period, with a focus on how the Greeks considered the alphabet as composed of the fundamental building blocks with which you could build up to a description of the universe. Chapter 4 covers the early Christian eras, in which the power of the written language--and the alphabet--was usually given divine attribution: "I am the alpha and the omega", for example, uses the beginning and end of alphabet as a metaphor for the entirety of existence. Other chapters cover the medieval period and the Church's appropriation of the written word, the Renaissance and the turn to rationalization, and the 18th century and their belief that writing was a necessary condition for the existence of civilization. (There's a chapter on Kabbalah too.) Chapter 9 covers the 19th century and the alphabet's role in the debate of creationism vs evolution (was written language divinely inspired, or did it come about naturally?)and the last chapter considers the alphabet in the digital age. The book could stand to have a longer introduction that better signaled some of Drucker's larger themes, but in all, it's a pretty thorough and convincing history.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched book on a fascinating subject. If only the sense of wonder that it could generate was more evident! Drucker's book has all the ingredients, but her writing style leaves it more like a university text book that a book for an enthusiast on the history of the alphabet. It's still a good book, but best taken in small doses.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

dense but good if you like that sort of thing.

[gideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book had a lot of potentially interesting content and some really fun chapters, but overall it was difficult to get through and often very repetitive. the content was presented in a very dry, toneless way and the writing was convoluted and often difficult to follow and dragged out unnecessarily. shame because it's such an interesting topic, would have been a lot of fun if it was presented better. i would have appreciated if there was also some brief history of the actual development of the alphabet to keep the reader grounded while reading all the different histories and symbolism that have been ascribed to the alphabet. 2.5 stars? maybe 3?

[Sarah]

Abandoned on page 42 of 310. Just didn’t understand half of it. Think this is my lack of knowledge rather than the author. However there is nothing to suggest you need technical knowledge to read the book.

[Ron Kastner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very erudite; not an easy read. A subject that is more complex than first appears.

[Deborah]

(Almost done with it) Beautiful beautiful specimens, was very pleased to have seen the original Bodoni, Bickham, Uncial and so many others. Very precise yet thorough walk through the ages of writing. However, because there have been recent archaelogical discoveries, part of her explanation of the origin of the alphabet is incorrect.

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough distillation of what one needs to know about our alphabet. History, mythology, aesthetics and mystic hooey all included and brilliantly discussed herein. WITH tables & graphs and lots of images to look at. Should be on every poet's bookshelf. A masterpiece.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic treatise on the development of language and writing. With many historical examples and essays on various aspects of the graphic arts tradition.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely belongs on my list