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On Paper: The Everything Of Its Two-Thousand-Year History (2013)

by Nicholas A. Basbanes(Favorite Author)

3.91 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0307266427 (ISBN13: 9780307266422)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Knopf

review 1: If you love paper (like I do) then you'll love reading this book! Brabanes is the author of A Gentle Madness, published in 1999 it's a fabulous history of book collecting and collectors. Basbanes’ book is part social history and part examination into the many roles and uses of paper and why it is essential to our everyday needs. His topics range from the Sepoy Mutiny in India to the public acceptance of the sanitary napkin and the workings of the National Security Agency and their use of paper. Did you ever wonder why it's called "cartridge paper"? Cartridge paper was originally used for making paper cartridges for firearms. In the 14th-century the invention of the spinning wheel led to an increase in linen production, which led to an increase in rags, which lowered th... moree price of paper, which caused Johannes Gutenberg to see that investing in mechanical printing would be a good idea. It's fabulous!
review 2: Paper is one of those things that is so ubiquitous that most of us never really think of it, and yet it is an amazing substance with remarkable properties. Moreover, it has truly had revolutionary effects on civilization and history. In this gem of a book the history, making, impact, and many uses and meanings of paper are delightfully recounted with a charming enthusiasm and genuine wonder on the part of the author. Reading it gave me both a new-found appreciation for the wonderful thing that paper is, as well as a hankering to actually make some myself. I have found myself looking through my old books to examine the look and the feel of paper. A truly good book really does make us look differently at the world, even the aspects that are easily taken for granted. less

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