“if they are [books] to be of any use they must be as living friends or acquaintances and the whole art of forming and keeping a library consists in treating them on this footing alike mentally and materially” – from Books in the house by Alfred William Pollard, 1904
In this video, London booksellers Adrian Harrington and Jonathan Kearnes take us on a 15 minute tactile journey focusing on the physical, irreplaceable nature of the book object.
Whether it is Harrington tying together the long history, from Dickens to Harry Potter, of books being the launching pad for cultural stardom to Kearnes reminding us that a well-made book can outlast all of us, it becomes clear that these two men are passionately committed to the book.
Neither shun technology, nor see it as an end all for the printed book. They, like me, see these emerging technologies as a perfect complement to the book and not as a replacement.
And I don’t know about you but I prefer my books to live in my house as opposed to living in some cloud.