Sensational Books, curated by Kathryn Rudy and Emma Smith, ST Lee Gallery, Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, 27 May – 4 December 2022
“Our books are more than the words and images they contain” write Kathryn Rudy and Emma Smith on a panel at the entrance to the Sensational Books exhibition at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, “they are physical objects that engage all the senses.” All the senses? This claim contradicts the “Great Divide” theory of the transition from orality to literacy proposed by Marshall McLuhan and seconded by Walter J. Ong to the effect that the advent of writing, and a fortiori the printing press, precipitated the “exchange of an eye for an ear” as a result of the reduction of words from dynamic vocal expressions to “quiescent marks on paper.” Of course, this change did not happen overnight, for the codex (bound book), which dates from the first century CE, continued to be read aloud, often during mealtimes in the monastery. Interestingly, as regards private study, the carrel desk, with partitions at back and sides, was invented not to guard against visual distraction but so that readers could hear themselves read – and think. Silent reading came later. ....