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Adam Smyth runs the 39 Step Press, an experiment in printing, from a cold barn in Oxfordshire. He is also Professor of English Literature and the History of the Book at Balliol College, University of Oxford.
This really is the loveliest of books and you will never take for granted reading a physical copy again * i * Agile storytelling and chatty erudition evoke not just the physicality of the book but also its innate humanity * Observer * A passionate paean to the book, in all its forms, as an object ... So interesting, so thought-provoking * Literary Review * Refreshing ... Smyth breathes both books-as-objects and their creators back into life * Financial Times * Bound to be brilliant ... There's no doubting the breadth of [Smyth's] knowledge and love of the business * Guardian * Fun and informative ... The Book-Makers gives you a lively sense of the way in which books have been made and unmade, crafted, handled and spliced down the centuries * Prospect * Fierce scholarship and fascinating print nerdery come together here as he illuminates brilliantly a cast of printers, binders, artists, papermakers and library founders. There is a wonderful immediacy to Adam Smyth's narrative * Country Life * Amazing. From typeface to papermaking to a whole new-to-me democratic world of book interaction like commonplacing and zines, this book is a soul-expanding celebration of the human spirit * Martin Latham, author of The Bookseller's Tale * A brilliant time-machine of a book. Each chapter feels like a party packed with old friends and new, and Smyth plays the gregarious host with aplomb * Joseph Hone, author of The Book Forger * I relished Adam Smyth's The Book-Makers: bursting with fascinating details and vividly-drawn characters, its stories will delight any book lover, and Smyth delivers them with an erudite brio * Roland Allen, author of The Notebook * Adam Smyth brings to life in delightful detail eighteen fascinating book makers, women and men, and their often-surprising books. Taking us from Wynkyn de Worde's early printed books in 1490s London to the zine creators of today, Smyth's wonderful book never ceases to captivate and enthrall the reader * Sarah Ogilvie, author of The Dictionary People * Explores in compelling fashion the lives of these fascinating individuals and their roles in making the most powerful objects in human history - books * Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the Books * A fascinating book that speaks volumes * Financial Times, *Summer Reads of 2024* *
