Lotte Hellinga

What a difference a suffix makes!

This book says it's about printING, but it's much more about printERS. There isn't much detail about the actual printing (e.g., while it talks about the typefounder who perhaps cut William Caxton's type, it doesn't mention the nature or size of the fonts). There is nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't what I expected from the book.

Also, I expected more about Caxton himself. His influence, the books he printed, the ways in which his early work influenced (or didn't influence) other printers.

We don't see that. What we have is more a catalog than a true examination of printing: Caxton printed some stuff, then a printer at St. Albans printed some stuff, then a printer at Oxford printed some stuff and maybe headed home.... There is no coherent feeling, no idea of where it is all heading.

There is nothing wrong with that. The writing is decent, the illustrations are well-done and often informative, there is a lot of information here. But it doesn't feel as if this book really lives up to its title. Maybe, with a different title, it would have been a more interesting book.… (mais)