the Great Revival of the future of the book
The book is an invention of sectarian societies. The codex format, our familiar book, came into prevalence in late Antiquity as a portable reading and communication medium which was particularly suited to the exchange of teachings and scripture as well as to individual book ownership and use.
This legacy of book making is still apparent in Iowa. Beyond devotional book printing, Iowa communities, also aspired to independent newspapers, local periodicals and all the varieties of job printing from circus broadsides to wedding announcements. New technologies of printing mixed with the old as local printers both preserved and advanced their skills. Inventions such as the Linotype setting and casting machine, enabled the publication of popular books and timely, daily newspapers. Until the very end of the 20th century, connectivity and community organization depended on print.
Return with us now to those golden days that still prefigure the future of the book. Summer of 2005 will bring the Great Revival to the
Amana colony of Homestead. The recreation of the Amana Printing Shop, the Chautauqua of the
2005 PBI, the UI conference on the
Preservation of the Changing Book and a celebration of the Iowa made book will mark the joint Sesquicentennials of the UI Libraries and the settlement of the Amanas, Wow!