{"product_id":"the-golden-thread-the-story-of-writing-9781619024724","title":"The Golden Thread: The Story of Writing","description":"From the simple representative shapes used to record transactions of goods and services in ancient Mesopotamia, to the sophisticated typographical resources available to the twenty-first-century users of desktop computers, the story of writing is the story of human civilization itself. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCalligraphy expert Ewan Clayton traces the history of an invention which--ever since our ancestors made the transition from a nomadic to an agrarian way of life in the eighth century BC--has been the method of codification and dissemination of ideas in every field of human endeavour, and a motor of cultural, scientific and political progress. He explores the social and cultural impact of, among other stages, the invention of the alphabet; the replacement of the papyrus scroll with the codex in the late Roman period; the perfecting of printing using moveable type in the fifteenth century and the ensuing spread of literacy; the industrialization of printing during the Industrial Revolution; the impact of artistic Modernism on the written word in the early twentieth century--and of the digital switchover at the century's close. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Golden Thread\u003c\/i\u003e also raises issues of urgent interest for a society living in an era of unprecedented change to the tools and technologies of written communication. Chief among these is the fundamental question: \"What does it mean to be literate in the early twenty-first century?\" The book belongs on the bookshelves of anyone who is inquisitive not just about the centrality of writing in the history of humanity, but also about its future; it is sure to appeal to lovers of language, books and cultural history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEwan Clayton\u003c\/b\u003e is a distinguished calligrapher and professor in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at the University of Sunderland. For a number of years he worked as a consultant to Xerox PARC with an interest in digital communications technology. He has exhibited and taught calligraphy in many parts of the world.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Catapult","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50662599033106,"sku":"9781619024724","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_37eae166-cb78-47c4-93f1-fee9d5023c8f.jpg?v=1733528130","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-golden-thread-the-story-of-writing-9781619024724","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}