‘In focusing on the connection between print and preservation, we miss the culture of ephemeral texts that Gutenberg’s innovation unleashed.’ Adam Smyth on Gutenberg’s books www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

‘Centuries of printing preceded Gutenberg. As White is careful to describe, Gutenberg was born nine hundred years after printed texts were first produced in China by rubbing paper onto inked, carved woodblocks.’ Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social): www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

‘Interest in Gutenberg’s Bible waned to such an extent that at least fifteen of them ended up sliced into strips to reinforce more desirable titles – such as a handbook of legal process in Saxony from 1666.’ Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social) on Gutenberg’s books www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Pleased to be in the latest @lrb.co.uk with a piece on Eric White's (very good) biography of Mr G's books. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Pleased to be in the latest @lrb.co.uk with a piece on Eric White's (very good) biography of Mr G's books. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Hooray to @thespectator1828.bsky.social and to Frances Wilson for nominating THE BOOK GAME, by elusive but deserving (and unrelated) Frances Wise, as a Book of the Year for 2025! @4thestatebooks.bsky.social @chloehouston.bsky.social

Hooray to @thespectator1828.bsky.social and to Frances Wilson for nominating THE BOOK GAME, by elusive but deserving (and unrelated) Frances Wise, as a Book of the Year for 2025! @4thestatebooks.bsky.social @chloehouston.bsky.social

Somewhat astonishingly, here it is, a book, a thing in the world... More, including acknowledgements, soon❤️

"Abandoned and failed projects, ca. 1998-2025: an incomplete, chronological list" -- worth your time, from Adam Smyth, who lists all the stuff he dropped or which didn't work adamsmyth.substack.com/p/abandoned-...

Book-shop question!

What are the best 2nd-hand bookshops in the UK -- if by 'best' I mean shops that tend towards (1) interestingly curated stock (2) atmosphere (bit messy, bit tumbled down -- but a place you want to be in) (3) knowledgeable staff who add something (4) inspiring. Trying to make a list!

What are the best 2nd-hand bookshops in the UK -- if by 'best' I mean shops that tend towards (1) interestingly curated stock (2) atmosphere (bit messy, bit tumbled down -- but a place you want to be in) (3) knowledgeable staff who add something (4) inspiring. Trying to make a list!

So, the Book! is actually called the Art of the Book and is available in PDF form on Shepherd’s website, here. And given that’s the case, and I’m not sharing anything that isn’t online already, I don’t see why I shouldn’t live post the process of following the instructions, and making a book.

I love this. I kind of want to make my own list, but I am also afriad to do so.

Aborted things ...

Abandoned projects!

Abandoned projects!

Like my attempt at a historical costume neckpiece, w/2 pillowcases? For @adamwithbooks.bsky.social ‘s film project. He’s asking us to make short videos of ourselves saying lines from Rousseau’s Confessions while wearing a white Rousseauvian neckpiece. To join in email Adam: [email protected]

Warwickshire friends, please come to Waterstones Leamington Spa next Thursday and hear me and @adamwithbooks.bsky.social talk about The Book Game - I’d love to see you! Tickets via the link below, or message me. www.waterstones.com/events/in-co...

Looking forward to the "Bookmorphs" exhibition at The Hellenic Centre with work by @joedevlin.bsky.social @sarahbodman.bsky.social @inscriptionjournal.bsky.social SJ Fowler, Stephen Emmerson, David Blackmore, Michael Hampton, et al. PV, Tuesday 14th October. helleniccentre.org/event/bookmo...

Are there people writing online diaries today, about their daily experiences? Or has Instsgram, X etc scooped up this material? I'm looking to find compelling online diarists -- suggestions gratefully received.

Are there people writing online diaries today, about their daily experiences? Or has Instsgram, X etc scooped up this material? I'm looking to find compelling online diarists -- suggestions gratefully received.

🥳 🍾

🎥 📚 I'm making a short film composed of lots of 20-second clips of different people reading the same line of text: a series of brief instalments. If you would like to be involved - it will be fun, and maybe interesting, and easy (you film on a phone) - please DM me (and/or repost). Thank you!

🎥 📚 I'm making a short film composed of lots of 20-second clips of different people reading the same line of text: a series of brief instalments. If you would like to be involved - it will be fun, and maybe interesting, and easy (you film on a phone) - please DM me (and/or repost). Thank you!

On the Beatles and my dad: a micro essay.

On the Beatles and my dad: a micro essay.

Pipping EM Forster and a book about ultra processed foods to number one spot — just as we had planned.

Just saying.

For one day only! The Book Game on Kindle for just 99p!

How to learn: new micro essay at adamsmyth.substack.com/p/how-to-learn

LOVED this youthful, hurtling, music-rich production @thersc.bsky.social Try to see it! And congrats Joanna Bowman, Sian Stephens, Lance West and all.

Thanks to the brilliant Frances Wilson (author of Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark) for these kind words about THE BOOK GAME @chloehouston.bsky.social @4thestatebooks.bsky.social

Korean edition of THE BOOK-MAKERS!

Enjoyed this sentence from Eric Marshall White's Johannes Gutenberg: A Biography in Books

The Book Makers in Korean!

Who doesn’t love Good Housekeeping? Especially when they make the Book Game by enigmatic Frances Wise one of the 50 best beach reads *ever*!

The joy of alphabetical lists of disconnected things: a micro essay.

Here "we" are -- that is, the two sides of Frances Wise -- signing THE BOOK GAME at beautiful Goldsboro Books off Charing Cross Road. Fast work. We got through a *lot*. @goldsborobooks.bsky.social @chloehouston.bsky.social