Quite a few years
ago, I learned of a book about pencils.
I thought it was silly, so I passed it by without a second thought—that is
until now. The author of The Pencil has now written a book about
bookshelves. Boring you say? I wondered about that, too, but from the
first page I was trapped. Henry Petroski
is the author of The Book on the Book
Shelf. It turns out he also authored
a staggeringly long paean to the humble pencil.
Need I mention a copy of The
Pencil arrived while I was writing this review?
The Book on the Book Shelf is an interesting look at the evolution of
book shelves from Alexandria all the way to modern libraries with all sorts of
digital tools and equipment to keep track of, sort, and shelve tens of
thousands of books. I must admit I was
incredulous that such a book existed, or would be widely read, yet, I secretly
yearned to find out what it is all about.
This may not seem exciting, but the first page put me on a thrilling
ride through history. I have said this
before about trees, and I gleefully repeat myself, I will never again look at
my bookshelves as mere furniture. As
Petroski writes, “One evening, while reading in my study, I looked up from my
book and saw my bookshelves in a new and different light. Instead of being just places on which to
store books, the shelves themselves intrigued me as artifacts in their own
right” (ix). This is the first sentence
of the preface, and I immediately closed the book, and looked at my
shelves. I realized each had a story to
tell, and each held remembrances of all the decades we had spent together.
Petroski tells us “over
50,000 books are published each year in America alone” (5). I wish I didn’t know this fact. Now I will never catch up! Every time I visit friends or family, I find
time to slip away and examine their shelves.
I believe a lot can be learned by examining a library. One time, to my horror, I visited a “friend-of-a-friend’s
house and could not find a single book—except for some cookbooks in the
kitchen. I was stunned! How awful that must be to live without
books. I believe it was Cicero who
wrote, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Petroski writes, “The bookshelf, like the
book, has become an integral part of civilization as we know it, its presence in
a home practically defining what it means to be civilized, educated, and refined. Indeed, the presence of bookshelves greatly
influences our behavior” (4). I must
admit I take on a reverential calm when I am among my books or merely walking
down the hall.
Petroski has
chapters on scrolls and manuscripts, printing and binding, and of course
stories of the medieval monks bent over an illuminated manuscript. He explains how books became chained to the
library tables. He also includes dozens
of intriguing drawings of medieval scholars reading at desks with a variety of
solutions to storing books in the background.
I think Henry
Petroski has tapped a much ignored vein, which, once let loose, will start a renewed
interest in bookshelves as much more than mere furniture. The
Book on the Book Shelf belongs in every library along with Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Sears Subject Headings, and an O.E.D. 5 stars.
--Chiron, 3/30/17
No comments:
Post a Comment