Professor Casey Smith in a curious and discomfiting pose with a large book.

Welcome to The History of the Western Book. Get in the habit of consulting this page frequently (several times a week) over the course of the semester. I'll be posting news and notes and course-related material. If you have ideas for improving the feebleness of the blog, please let me know.

Two books you need to buy, borrow, copy, or acquire:
1. Nicole Howard, The Book: The Life Story of a Technology (Johns Hopkins UP, 2009). 
2. G. Cavallo & R. Chartier, eds., A History of Reading in the West (U Mass P, 2003). 
I strongly recommend buying copies, but I'm not requiring it. We will be reading all of the Howard book and most of the Cavallo & Chartier book.