Printing is sometimes spoken of as a revolution, sometimes as magic. For well over half a millennium people have used it for innumerable purposes and in the course of this long period attitudes have changed. So, too, has the design of books. How do people bring about, and respond to, changes in use? And how does that relate to changes in design? This lecture will draw on examples from the 15th to the 21st centuries, to show how different needs and aspirations are reflected in the look of books.

This is part of the 2012 University of Bristol Autumn Art Lecture series – run in association with Bristol Festival of Ideas – which look at the art of the book, from the physical beauty that books can convey in the illuminated manuscript, the natural history publication and the work of William Morris, through the commercial beauty of Penguin covers, to graphic novels and how artists work with books today. For details of all events click here.