Today’s featured book is “The Book in the Renaissance” by Andrew Pettegree. The first 150 years of the world of print was a major turning point in Medieval history leading to the Renaissance. Far from being an immediate success, the the printed book trade depended upon the development of a market of patrons who were willing to embrace this new form of the book. During the early days of printing with movable type established collectors and libraries preferred the time proven hand produced manuscripts. In the complicated, post-Gutenberg world the printed book plays a critical role in rescuing ancient learning from obscurity, and brought to a wider audience knowledge of the natural and physical world. As one reviewer, Bryce Christensen, highlights:

St. Teresa of Avila remarked, “If I did not have a new book, I did not feel that I could be happy.” … new books found their way into the hands of Renaissance readers such as St. Teresa. That force, as readers soon realize, reshaped the world of learning, as affordable books swelled enrollment in universities and multiplied municipal schools. But the force of the printed word emerged far from the classroom, as printing presses become potent weapons in political and ecclesiastical conflicts.

• Title: The Book in the Renaissance
• ISBN: 030011009X (ISBN13: 978-0300110098)
• Language: English
• Setting: Europe
• Literary awards: Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011

–DLW