Secret Life of Books

Tom Mole is Professor of English Literature and Book History at the University of Edinburgh, where he runs the Centre for the History of the Book. He has taught at universities in the UK and Canada, and has lectured widely in Europe, Australia and North America. He has written or edited several volumes about books and literature, including What the Victorians Made of Romanticism, which won the 2018 Saltire Prize for Research Book of the Year. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife and young daughter.

• CONTENTS; 1 Book/Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1; 2 Book/Thing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23; Interlude: Caravaggio, St Jerome. . . . . . . . . . . . .47; 3 Book/Self. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53; 4 Book/Relationship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81; Interlude: Van Gogh, Still Life with Bible . . . . . . . . 109; 5 Book/Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113; 6 Book/World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131; Interlude: Belcamp (attrib.), Great Picture. . . . . . . . . 157; 7 Book/Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163; 8 Book/Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181; Coda: Book/End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203; Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213; Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215; Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

`A real treasure trove for book lovers' - Alexander McCall Smith; `Every sentence is utterly captivating . . . probably the most compulsive text ever penned about what it means to handle and possess a book' - Christopher de Hamel, author of Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts; `Wonderfully insightful' - Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading; `Tom Mole's enthusiasm for books is infectious. If you also love books . . . you'll want to discover The Secret Life of Books' - Sam Jordison, author of Literary London; `A treat for bibliophiles everywhere' - Gavin Francis, author of Shapeshifters; `A treasure-chest, filled with bookish wonders' - Adam Roberts, BSFA award-winning author of Jack Glass; `I suspect I'll never look at a book the same way again' - Jon Courtenay Grimwood, author of Stamping Butterflies