The Book-Makers

A fascinating book that speaks volumes * Financial Times, *Summer Reads of 2024* *
This really is the loveliest of books and you will never take for granted reading a physical copy again * i *
Agile storytelling and chatty erudition evoke not just the physicality of the book but also its innate humanity * Observer *
A passionate paean to the book, in all its forms, as an object ... So interesting, so thought-provoking * Literary Review *
The Book-Makers breathes bibliophilia. It recalls Walter Benjamin’s essay ‘Unpacking My Library’. Like Benjamin, Smyth unpacks his contents lovingly … I cannot recommend it highly enough * Spectator *
Emphasising the human aspect in all its chaotic truth, The Book-Makers is far from your standard Gutenberg-to-Google history of the book… [Smyth] is almost uniquely well-qualified to convey what his 18 makers felt under their fingertips, and why it mattered to them so much. It is, in the truest sense, an enthusiast’s book; one that deserves to find enthusiasts of its own * Telegraph *
Vivid and often-surprising … The charm of The Book-Makers comes from its interest in wear and tear, blunders and errata, the spontaneous and the scrappy, the residual and the recycled – and in edges, of pages and bindings, society and taste * Times Literary Supplement *
Refreshing ... Smyth breathes both books-as-objects and their creators back into life * Financial Times *
Bound to be brilliant ... There's no doubting the breadth of [Smyth's] knowledge and love of the business * Guardian *
Fun and informative ... The Book-Makers gives you a lively sense of the way in which books have been made and unmade, crafted, handled and spliced down the centuries * Prospect *
Fierce scholarship and fascinating print nerdery come together here as he illuminates brilliantly a cast of printers, binders, artists, papermakers and library founders. There is a wonderful immediacy to Adam Smyth's narrative * Country Life *
[An] exuberant celebration of the printed book … [with] a compelling human angle … Smyth is an engaging narrator, and his history is teeming with life, drama and a cast of vividly drawn pioneers * Homes & Antiques *
Amazing. From typeface to papermaking to a whole new-to-me democratic world of book interaction like commonplacing and zines, this book is a soul-expanding celebration of the human spirit * Martin Latham, author of The Bookseller's Tale *
Fascinating ... Should teach even serious book-nerds a heap of forgotten and precious information about the making of books. Adam Smyth’s lively prose and human touch puts to rest the idea that book-talk has to be dry and dull. On the contrary! The development of printing, papermaking, and book distribution, for example, are told in chapters as full of surprises as any novel * David Bellos, author of The Novel of the Century *
A brilliant time-machine of a book. Each chapter feels like a party packed with old friends and new, and Smyth plays the gregarious host with aplomb * Joseph Hone, author of The Book Forger *