A Universe of Books

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  • Author: Peter Whitfield
  • Publisher: Wychwood Editions
  • Catalogue: 163099
  • Size: 23x30cm
AUTHOR-SIGNED BOOKPLATE! A Universe of Books is an outstanding publication by Peter Whitfield, a book born out of love and respect of all books before it.

What was the most powerful tool ever to have shaped our civilisation? The wheel, the ship, the engine, the means of controlling fire or measuring time? Overshadowing all these physical tools stands the book, the great container of human thought. As an object the book is small, passive, silent, and fragile, but its contents are mysteriously powerful and everlasting. Just consider: there are as many books as there are stars in the sky. Is it possible to make a selection of them that represents the richness of of humankind’s collective memory? That is exactly what this collection of essays sets out to do.

This survey ranges over world literature, examining key texts in science, religion, history, fiction and poetry, displaying the vastness of the intellectual universe which books contain. It shows why the role of the book is still a vital one in the electronic age. From Homer to Eliot, from Plato to Freud, from the Bible to Marx, from Dante to Darwin, this book turns the spotlight on the classic texts which have defined our cultural heritage.

Thought-provoking and richly illustrated, this is a work which no book-lover will want to miss.

Read an extract from this book online - [LINK:1914].