Books and the Human

Keynote lecture at the 'Holding / Held by the Book' conference organised by the Centre for Comparative History of Print, University of Leeds.

Holding / Held By the Book, in theTreasures of the Brotherton Gallery, 1 July 2016 (Cultures of the Book)

This one-day symposium considers what it means to hold a book as well as the continuing hold the book has upon its readers. Books come in many shapes and sizes, yet reading, as a process, often makes the book itself disappear. ‘Holding / Held By the Book’ recognizes the material dimensions of book culture, but places these in dialogue with the idea of the book more broadly. The book has been many things over its long life and, with the emergence of the ebook, is changing once again. This symposium explores how the form of the book structures its status as privileged cultural object: what happens to the status of the book, it asks, at a time when the book is taking on new forms?

Holding / Held By the Book is organized by the Centre for the Comparative History of Print (Centre CHoP) at the University of Leeds as part of the Cultures of the Book project. It investigates the way the long and diverse history of the book intersects with the book’s continuing allure.

(Source: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125046/the_centre_for_the_comparative_history_of_print/2057/events)