The Book on the Bookshelf

by Henry Petroski

Knopf, 288 pp., $26

Who on earth would write a history of the bookshelf? Henry Petroski, a professor of engineering and history at Duke, has already written The Pencil, a history of that underappreciated writing utensil, as well as The Evolution of Useful Things, in which he charts the development of such things as paper clips and zippers. Often, The Book on the Bookshelf makes for surprisingly fascinating reading, peppered with bits of knowledge that might be unfamiliar to modern book lovers. For instance, from the Middle Ages up to as late as the 18th century, books (valuable items that they were) were chained to lecterns and shelves, almost always with the spines facing in, not out. Still, The Book on the Bookshelf can be repetitive at times, even a tad dull (like when Petroski discusses the structural aspects of bookshelves), and at nearly 300 pages, a little too long. In the end, this book may appeal to only the most serious book geeks.

This article appears in December 3 • 1999.

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