Printer's Error

Irreverent Stories from Book History

De: Rebecca Romney, J. P. Romney

Narrado por: J.P. Romney

Since the Gutenberg Bible first went on sale in 1455, printing has been viewed as one of the highest achievements of human innovation. But the march of progress hasn't been smooth; downright bizarre is more like it. Printer's Error chronicles some of the strangest and most humorous episodes in the history of Western printing. Take, for example, the Gutenberg Bible. While the book is regarded as the first printed work in the Western world, Gutenberg's name doesn't appear anywhere on it.

Today, Johannes Gutenberg is recognized as the father of Western printing. But for the first few hundred years after the invention of the printing press, no one knew who printed the first book. This long-standing mystery took researchers down a labyrinth of ancient archives and libraries, and unearthed surprising details, such as the fact that Gutenberg's financier sued him, repossessed his printing equipment, and started his own printing business afterward.

Like the works of Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, and Ken Jennings, Printer's Error is a rollicking ride through the annals of time and the printed word.

©2017 J. P. Romney and Rebecca Romney (P)2017 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A spritely visit to the land of rare books." ( Kirkus)

Fun

This is a fun book by people that love humanity, love our history, and love books. It is a series of short looks into fascinating historical instances around the printed word.

I love this one

This book was interesting from the 1st page. The authors weave A series of interesting facts and stories into a Eloquence although irreverent story books printing and most Importantly People.

Porn for Ye Old Bibliophiles

Steeped in lore and mischievous storytelling, I found myself laughing and thoroughly engaged.

Kudos to J.P. Romney for pulling off a great performance.

Pretty Dull

Far more history than necessary, and not much of it was interesting. The writing was okay, and the research must have been substantial, but four hours was all I could take.

very good

Interesting take on a history few know. Some of the jokes were a bit much, but that's all good.

Must Read

Couldn’t stop listening and went back to the beginning immediately for a second read. Absolutely full of great information all told with a bit of humor.

Not nearly as funny as he thinks he is

This book is not an overview of printing and publishing. It has a good discussion of early printed books in Europe - in particular the Bible. There are also extensive sections on Benjamin Franklin, Mary Wollstonecraft, evolution of US copyright protection and pricing of books in the early 20th century in the US.

There are quite a few fun facts heavily larded with bad puns, and silly suggestive asides. I think this might have been fun as a podcast series but it got tiring pretty quickly in audio book form.

And maybe I missed the included PDF but I would have enjoyed seeing the woodcuts and other illustrations referred to in the commentary.

okay

For some reason I thought this would be more specific than it was, but the stories told were good. Very funny with thrown in asides or things that would make you laugh. Very dry content but it was ok over all. I don't plan on reading/listening again.

Surprisingly Enjoyable

I will buy dry factual books not only because I find them interesting but they help me get to sleep. This one actually had me chuckling. My favourite chapter was on Benjamin Franklin “makin’ it rain”. So funny. I will definitely listen to this one again.

Fascinating information with just the right amount of sarcasm and humor.

Loved the author’s/narrator’s treatment of all the subjects and the busting of many myths and legends.