Daniel: Yes, it's pricey, or as they say here in Minnesota, "spendy!"
I remembered from some English course that included some history of the novel, publishing, printing, etc., as you noted, that books at first were too costly for the unwealthy. Before mass-production printing techniques developed, the course's text noted, that illustrations were a huge problem, because most were re-drawn versions of earlier versions; each generation and artist introduced new, unique, and creative errors and distortions that sooner or later had no inkling of their original sources. (It took a few hundred more years for the photocopy machine to introduce the same kind of failure of copying.) For this reason, pictureless copies of scientific materials that were well-written by accurate observers were considered more accurate, because even illiterate copyists could get the words right, whether they were transcribed well or poorly. Later, it went on, as the spread of mass-produced religious printed materials, the graphics problem still was problematic. Woodcuts were costly to create, but the invention of conditional variables for graphics solved the problem! The garments of religious figures were shown as generically religious garb. However, the faces needed to be different for each group, so the woodcuts were made with empty holes for faces. The holes were plugged with blocks that printed specific faces and headgear for each market. I always thought this was pretty cool, but in reading through Meggs' "History of Graphic Design," 3rd ed., a book that's almost as painstakingly researched and compiled as the St John's Bible <G>, there's no mention of this "rubber-stamp" technology in his coverage of the evolution of graphic communication from the beginnings of language through written and printed forms, media, methods, and technologies. Was I misled early on by that old course material? Regards, Peter _______________________________ Peter Gold KnowHow ProServices On 6/20/07, Daniel Doornbos <danield at promise.com> wrote: > > Peter, > > I did not know about the Saint John's Bible project. > And as soon as I read about it online I wanted one. > Until I saw the $115,000 price tag. > That reflects the situation in the days before the printing press, when > only the wealthy could afford books. > Thanks for the link. > > Daniel > >
