Includes index.

Scrolls and scribes: the greatest story ever told: from the Old Testament to the New -- People of the book -- Illuminating the dark ages: from the edge of beyond: medieval glories of the British Isles -- Debits and credits: the keeping of accounts -- The Gutenberg revolution: Caxton and Aldus: masters of the press -- A brave new world: printing in the Americas -- Yes, we have now bananas: Morison, Zapf, and Gill: modern masters of typography -- The bookmaker's craft: to print or not to print? for Shakespeare, that was the question -- By its cover: the art of the binder -- The infinite library, timeless and incorruptible: heralds of science: books that changed the world -- The best of the past: a medieval revival in the arts of the book -- A picture's worth: Mother Goose and company: books for the young and the young at heart -- Every word for everyman: The book business: Ah, you publishing scoundrel! -- Old leaves, new lives: lost and found between the covers -- Last words.

From earliest attempts at writing to the newest electronic computer-books; from sumptuous illuminated and bejeweled medieval manuscripts to Gutenberg and the invention of movable type; from the diverse arts and crafts of bookmaking to the building of magnificent libraries for housing treasured volumes; from the ancient epic of Gilgamesh to the plays of Shakespeare and the tales of Beatrix Potter, the author highlights the evolution of the commercial value of books and of the passion for book collecting.