Provision programme available here. This is a FREE event; registration will open soon.

This conference will be of interest to historians of the book, printing and print culture, scientists and technologists who are interested in the book, bibliographers, librarians, conservationists, bibliophiles and book collectors and practitioners including printers, binders and type designers. It is not looking at books from aesthetic or literary perspectives but how science and technology have been deployed in book production and how the book itself has been a vehicle for the promotion of science and technology. We are covering all periods, regions and cultures and interpreting the ‘book’ widely to include clay tablets, codices, printed texts and electronic media. Both the physicality and culture of the book are explored. The conference is not only looking at the word, but images as well, including woodcuts, engravings, photographs and digital images.

Subjects include:

• Science, technology and the making of the book, before and after the printing revolution, for example, writing instruments, substrates, ink, punches, presses, type, bindings;

• The relationship of technology to the appearance of letter forms and images;

• Science, technology and book conservation;

• The dissemination of science and technology via the book in manuscript, printed and electronic forms;

• The consumption and reception of scientific and technological books;

• The use of technology in storing, moving and transmitting books: for example, the evolution of libraries and shelving, means of transport for distributing books, digital transmission and e-books;

• The authorship and publishing of science and technology texts.

This event is being organised by the joint Centre for Printing History and Culture at Birmingham City University and University of Birmingham, United Kingdom and the Department of Language, Literature and Modern Culture, University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.