Includes bibliographical references (pages 284-330) and index.
Contents:
Worlds of Paper -- European Paper -- 'Ink Stained Fingers': The Information of Commerce and Finance -- The Paper of Politics and the Politics of Paper -- Revolutionary Print -- The Book of Nature and the Books of Man -- Writing Others and the Self -- Information Revolutions, Past and Present.
Summary:
"This book argues that changes in the generation, preservation and circulation of information, chiefly on newly available and affordable paper, constituted an 'information revolution'. In commerce, finance, statecraft, scholarly life, science, and communication, early modern Europeans were compelled to place a new premium on information management. These developments had a profound and transformative impact on European life. The huge expansion in paper records and the accompanying efforts to store, share, organize, and taxonomize them are intertwined with many of the essential developments in the early modern period, including the rise of the state, the Print Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, and the Republic of Letters"---Provided by the publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.