James Raven is Professor of Modern History at the University of Essex and a Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Formerly he was Reader in Social and Cultural History, University of Oxford, and Professorial Fellow of Mansfield College. He is the author, editor and co-editor of numerous books in early modern and modern British, European and colonial history, including Judging New Wealth (1992); The Practice and Representation of Reading (1996); The English Novel 1770-1829 (2000); Free Print and Non-Commercial Publishing (2000); London Booksellers and American Customers (2002); Lost Libraries (2004); The Business of Books: Booksellers and the English Book Trade (2007); Books between Europe and the Americas (2011); Publishing Business (2014) and Bookscape: Geographies of Printing and Publishing in London before 1800 (2014).
A sumptuous production. * Liz Dexter, Shiny New Books * Beautifully illustrated, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book is a seminal and original work of meticulous scholarship * Midwest Book Review * This is an excellent compilation on the world-wide history of the book... beautifully illustrated... Put it on your Christmas present list. * Prof. T.D. Wilson, Information Research * Beautifully comprehensively illustrated history of the book... the essays are stimulating and thought provoking. This is a scholarly work but its also a coffee table book intended to be widely read and accessible. This is a very well curated collection... Fascinating and beautiful. * Paul Burke, NB Magazine * This volume is a cultural biography of the book, taking a global view of its underlying function as a portable, durable conveyor of reproducible information... Other works trace the history of the book, but Oxford's treatment is a deeper, more multicultural, and more visually appealing approach. * Lesley Farmer, Booklist * Together, these fourteen essays form a thorough picture of how and why books progressed along the lines that they did. In an age when books are once again experiencing momentous changes, this well-researched reminder of their durability and timelessness is very welcome. * Eileen Gonzalez, Foreword Reviews * Raven... has drawn together scholarly essays offering a sweeping, erudite, and thoroughly engaging narrative... A profusely illustrated, handsomely produced intellectual history. * Kirkus, Starred Review * [A] brilliant book... illustrated with the most sumptuous photographic images of books ancient and modern. * Kathryn Hughes, The Mail on Sunday *