‘[T]he book is an extension of the eye …’
– Marshall McLuhan
The history of ideas is mirrored in the history of the book. Books have altered the course of history itself, through the dissemination of ideas that have changed how we think about the world and ourselves. In many cultures across different eras, books have played a highly symbolic and iconic role.
There was a time when it was thought that the world’s knowledge could be collected between the covers of a book. The information explosion of recent times now makes it impossible to contain the world’s knowledge within one library, let alone in one book, yet books continue to be a powerful means of informing and inspiring new generations.
Further reading
Shane Carmody 'Mirror of a world: William Caxton at the State Library', LaTrobe Journal, No 77, Autumn 2006.
Online galleries
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