H Lee
asked
Keith Houston:
I am so completely overwhelmed by the amount of information and knowledge you have. "The Book" seems to cover pretty much everything. What does one have to do to know this much stuff? How did you even begin to write about this? "The Book" is the most precious thing I've ever held in my hand. I am reading it very slowly. Very slowly because I need to. And then I go back a few pages and look at the pictures again.
Keith Houston
Hi, H - thanks for posing the question! I'm glad you're enjoying "The Book".
Most important for me was having a year or so to devote to research (on top of the research I'd already done for "Shady Characters"). Membership of the National Library of Scotland helped me make the most of that year in that I was able to borrow almost any book I needed, however obscure, and to access their rare book collection as needed.
I have to say, at no point did I ever have the sum total of all my research in my head at once. I used Evernote to save and organise anything I found useful - notes, web pages, academic papers, photographs - so that I *didn't* have to remember it, and then gradually winnowed it down to the stuff that would eventually make its way into "The Book". Once I knew my way around the subject, the book's structure seemed more or less obvious - how could I have written it any other way?
Thanks again!
Keith
Most important for me was having a year or so to devote to research (on top of the research I'd already done for "Shady Characters"). Membership of the National Library of Scotland helped me make the most of that year in that I was able to borrow almost any book I needed, however obscure, and to access their rare book collection as needed.
I have to say, at no point did I ever have the sum total of all my research in my head at once. I used Evernote to save and organise anything I found useful - notes, web pages, academic papers, photographs - so that I *didn't* have to remember it, and then gradually winnowed it down to the stuff that would eventually make its way into "The Book". Once I knew my way around the subject, the book's structure seemed more or less obvious - how could I have written it any other way?
Thanks again!
Keith
More Answered Questions
June Miller
asked
Keith Houston:
As you live in London, I am assuming you are British, and therefore I wonder why you used American spelling in "The Book" (my only quibble with it)? Incidentally, although I have just started to read it (bought after hearing you at Writers' Week in Adelaide), I can see it is going to become one of my cherished possessions. What paper is used in the book? I find myself caressing the pages as I read, they are so sleek!
Thiadmer Riemersma
asked
Keith Houston:
I have only read the first part of "The Book" yet (on papyrus, parchment & paper). The question I have is: given that the production of the paper in Europe/America was slowed by the shortage of linen rags, why then was the production of linen not upscaled (more flax fields etc.)? It appears to me that new linen is equally good as used rags for paper production. Was new linen simple too expensive?
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