In his Introduction to A Carlyle Reader, (Cambridge University
Press, 1984), G.B. Tennyson is unequivocal in his appreciation:
"No one who hopes to understand the nineteenth century in England
can dispense with Carlyle," (p. xiv). Since nineteenth century
England is of such relevance to major developments in the
civilization of literacy, one can infer that Tennyson's thought
applies to persons trying to understand the emergence and
consolidation of literacy. Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) wrote Signs
of Times. (He took the title from the New Testament, Matthew
16:3, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but
can ye not discern the sign of the times?") He condemns his age
in the following terms: "Were we required to characterize this
age of ours by any single epithet, we should be tempted to call
it, not a Heroical, Devotional, Philosophical, or Moral Age. It
is the Age of Machinery, in every outward and inward sense of
that word; the age which, with its whole undivided might,
forwards, teaches and practises the great art of adapting means
to ends. Nothing is done directly, or by hand; all is by rule and
calculated contrivance. For the simplest operation, some helps
and accompaniments, some cunning abbreviating process is in
readiness. Our old modes of exertion are all discredited, and
thrown aside. On every hand, the living artisan is driven from
his workshop to make room for a speedier, inanimate one," (cf.
Reader, p. 34). Parallels to the reactions to new technology in
our age are more than obvious.
New Worlds, Ancient Texts. The Cultural Impact of an Encounter, a
major public documentary exhibit at the New York Public Library,
September 1992-January 1992, curated by Anthony Grafton, assisted
by April G. Shelford.
At the other end of the spectrum defined by Carlyle's faith in
books comes a fascinating note from Louis Hennepin (1684): "We
told them [the Indians] that we know all things through written
documents. These savages asked, 'Before you came to the lands
where we live, did you rightly know that we were here?' We were
obliged to say no. 'Then you didn't know all things through
books, and they didn't tell you everything'"
A. Grafton, A. Shelford, and N. Siraisi,The Power of Tradition
and the Shock of Discovery, Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1992.
In comparison to Carlyle's criticism of mechanical mediation of
the Industrial Age comes this evaluation of the Information Age
or Post-Industrial Age:
"In the industrial age, when people need to achieve something, do
they have to go through a series of motions, read manuals, or
become experts at the task? Not at all; they flip a switch.... It
isn't necessary to know a single thing about lighting; all one
needs to do is flip a switch to turn the light on. [...] To take
care of a number of tasks, you push a button, flip a switch, turn
a dial. That is the age of industry working at its best, so that
you don't have to become an electrical engineer or physicist to
function effectively.
"To get the information you need...do you need to go on-line or
open a manual? Unfortunately, most of us right now end up going
through a series of activities in order to get the precise
information we need. In the age of information...you will be
able to turn on a computer, come up with the specific question,
and it will do the work for you." (cf. Address by Jeff Davidson,
Executive Director of the Breathing Space Institute of Chapel
Hill, before the National Institute of Health, Dec. 8, 1995;
reprinted in Vital Speeches, Vol. 62, 06-01-1996, pp. 495, and
in the Electric LibraryT.)
George Steiner. The End of Bookishness? (edited transcript of a
talk given to the International Publishers' Association Congress
in London, on June 14, 1988) in Times Literary Supplement, 89-14,
1988, p. 754.
Aldus Manutius, the Elder (born Aldo Manuzio, 1449-1515): Known
for his activity in printing, publishing, and typography,
especially for design and manufacture of small pocket-sized books
printed in inexpensive editions. The family formed a short-lived
printing empire (ending in 1597 with Aldus Manutius, the
Younger) and is associated with the culture of books and with
high quality typography.
Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. An abridged version appeared in
Galaxy Science Fiction (1950) under the title The Fireman.
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945). Mein Kampf (translated by Ralph
Manheim) Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971.
Mao (1893-1976). Comrade Mao Tze-tung on imperialism and all
reactionaries are paper tigers. Peking: Foreign Language Press,
1958.
Umberto Eco. The Name of the Rose (translated by William Weaver).
San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1983. Originally published
in Italy as Il nome della rosa. Milano: Fabbri-Bompiani, 1980.
Topos uranikos, in Plato's philosophy is the heavenly place from
which we originally come and where everything is true. Vilém
Flusser wrote that, "The library (transhuman memory) is presented
as a space (topos uranikos)" cf. On Memory (Electronic or
Otherwise), in Leonardo, 23-4, 1990, p. 398.
Great libraries take shape, under Libraries, in Compton's
Encyclopedia (Compton's New Media), January 1, 1994
Noah Webster (1758-1843) wrote The Compendious Dictionary of the
English Language, in 2 volumes, in 1828. He was probably
inspired by Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), who wrote his Dictionary
of the English Language in 1755.