In Theory co-host Simon Brown interviews Anthony Grafton, the Henry Putnam Professor of History and the Humanities at Princeton University, about his new book, Inky Fingers: The Making of Books in Early Modern Europe (Harvard University Press: 2020).
The book takes the reader through historical settings and case studies to explore the laborious, collaborative and sometimes poorly-compensated work of humanist scholarship between the Renaissance and Enlightenment. They discuss the division of labor in the printing house, the “divination” in the corrector’s work, and intellectual property in a world of commonplaces.
Featured Image: Cover Image of Inky Fingers designed by Graciela Galup, with image from Jeremiah Hornschuch, Orthotypographia, Leipzig, 1608.
