The evolution of the book

English Professor Peter Stallybrass brought the world of the book alive to an excited group of students and alumni on Friday afternoon -- but in a way most would never have imagined.

Rather than focusing on the content of texts, Stallybrass' lecture, "The Materiality of Reading," concentrated on the functional aspects of books and their evolution as the preferred medium for written records.

As part of the Penn Humanities Forum "Year of the Book," the lecture was attended by bibliophiles of all ages eager to hear Stallybrass, described by College sophomore Erica Miao as a "great mythological figure."

Stallybrass began his lecture with a discussion of the evolution of books from scrolls. He described the differences between the two mediums, namely the ease with which a reader can jump from place to place in a book and the corresponding difficulty with scrolls.

This ease of maneuvering allows a reader to pursue "discontinuous reading" necessary for teaching and learning, Stallybrass said. He also applied the differences to Judaism and Christianity, highlighting the different functions of the Torah scroll and the Bible.

He explained how the scroll format of the Torah promotes a continuous reading at religious services while Christian services are more discontinuous because of the format of the Bible.

Stallybrass' lecture took an interesting turn as he proposed the question "how many fingers does it take to read a book?" With a short discussion of the history of bookmarks and a display of a variety of artworks, he demonstrated the cultural importance of books and bookmarks, which allow people "to have our fingers in many places at one time."

College junior Greg Cooper insisted that excitement is common to all of Stallybrass' lectures. "It comes alive all over again" every time he hears Stallybrass speak, Cooper said.

Stallybrass explored the progression of book and scroll technology in the modern realm as he discussed the "highly retrograde film technology" utilized by carousel projectors and videocassettes and the "highly advanced book technology" of the Internet. He especially focused on the importance of the index and the ease of navigation which it promotes in book technology.

College junior Lynn Huang was excited by the new appreciation for books she gained at the lecture.

"Being an English major, you're so used to reading the book and ignoring the physicality of the text," said Huang, who enjoyed Stallybrass' "interesting take" on the religious aspects of books and reading.

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