Index, A History of the
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- Create Date：2021-08-29 04:16:04
- Update Date：2025-09-23
- Status：finish
- Author：Dennis Duncan
- ISBN：0241374235
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Summary
Most of us give little thought to the back of the book - it's just where you go to look things up。 But here， hiding in plain sight， is an unlikely realm of ambition and obsession， sparring and politicking， pleasure and play。 Here we might find Butchers， to be avoided， or Cows that sh-te Fire， or even catch Calvin in his chamber with a Nonne。 This is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool， with an illustrious but little-known past。 Here， for the first time， its story is told。
Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first， Dennis Duncan reveals how the index has saved heretics from the stake， kept politicians from high office and made us all into the readers we are today。 We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses， novelists' living rooms and university laboratories， encountering emperors and popes， philosophers and prime ministers， poets， librarians and - of course - indexers along the way。 Revealing its vast role in our evolving literary and intellectual culture， Duncan shows that， for all our anxieties about the Age of Search， we are all index-rakers at heart， and we have been for eight hundred years。
Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first， Dennis Duncan reveals how the index has saved heretics from the stake， kept politicians from high office and made us all into the readers we are today。 We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses， novelists' living rooms and university laboratories， encountering emperors and popes， philosophers and prime ministers， poets， librarians and - of course - indexers along the way。 Revealing its vast role in our evolving literary and intellectual culture， Duncan shows that， for all our anxieties about the Age of Search， we are all index-rakers at heart， and we have been for eight hundred years。
Reviews
Laura Spira
，
A fascinating book， although perhaps for a niche audience。 I knew nothing about the history of the practice of constructing indexes and， while I vaguely knew that some authors had used indexes humorously and satirically， the political and social aspects had never really occurred to me。 The author's style is engaging and the underpinning scholarship is impressive in its detail。 But I found reading an electronic version very constraining and I would have preferred to be able to turn the pages of t A fascinating book， although perhaps for a niche audience。 I knew nothing about the history of the practice of constructing indexes and， while I vaguely knew that some authors had used indexes humorously and satirically， the political and social aspects had never really occurred to me。 The author's style is engaging and the underpinning scholarship is impressive in its detail。 But I found reading an electronic version very constraining and I would have preferred to be able to turn the pages of the two indexes。 At one stage in my life decided that an indexing qualification would be a useful professional expertise to acquire。 However， following the correspondence course offered by the Society of Indexers proved to be too great a challenge in a small house with lively young children who saw boxes of index cards as interesting playthings so I never completed it。 Since then， I have always admired a good index。 For my first book， the publisher required an index to be submitted with the manuscript: I was quite keen to do it myself but time constraints forced me to use the basic software supplied with an early version of Word。 I doubt whether this has hampered the small handful of readers who found their way to this slim volume。 For my second， and last， book I was delighted to discover that the publisher would commission the index。 The topic is not mainstream and my anxiety as to whether they would find a suitably knowledgeable person was assuaged when it arrived， it is a very good index - indeed， the indexer should have had a credit and had the production process timing allowed I would have included his name in the acknowledgements。For readers who enjoy this book I recommend Anthony Grafton's book on the footnote。Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC。 。。。more
jean
，
An interesting and well researched book on one of those subjects most of us take for granted and never really think about。 I did feel that， quite rightly， it was probably aimed at a more knowledgeable reader than one with a casual interest like me though and I imagine they are likely to enjoy it more。Thank you to netgalley and penguin books for an advance copy of this book
Margaret McCulloch-Keeble
，
Surprise surprise， this is quite a niche book！ I'll be honest， there were some passages that were just a wee bit too dry and dusty for me。 But on the whole I enjoyed this。 The author has quite a dry sense of humour along with an obvious passion for the subject which ensures that this is a curious but enlightening little book。 Surprise surprise， this is quite a niche book！ I'll be honest， there were some passages that were just a wee bit too dry and dusty for me。 But on the whole I enjoyed this。 The author has quite a dry sense of humour along with an obvious passion for the subject which ensures that this is a curious but enlightening little book。 。。。more
Helen
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An unusual topic but illuminating。 Demonstrates how much we use the system in our every day lives。 The historical tale is fascinating。
Roman Clodia
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Evergreen， Anthony， his collection of fig-leaves for the ladies， 100Duncan has written a wonderful crossover book here which has the solid foundations and academic rigour for scholars， but which is as entertaining as it is informative and has an eye for the humorous， the ridiculous and the telling example to appeal to a general audience。 As someone who made a complete mess of indexing my first monograph （NB。 the UK's one of two probably best known academic publishers does not use professiona Evergreen， Anthony， his collection of fig-leaves for the ladies， 100Duncan has written a wonderful crossover book here which has the solid foundations and academic rigour for scholars， but which is as entertaining as it is informative and has an eye for the humorous， the ridiculous and the telling example to appeal to a general audience。 As someone who made a complete mess of indexing my first monograph （NB。 the UK's one of two probably best known academic publishers does not use professional indexers and requires the author to index their own book， albeit with the embedded indexing software discussed in the final chapter） I am now first in line to support the importance of a good index but had little to no idea of the history of indexing - I do now！ From the introduction of alphabet-based organisation （ah， but which alphabet？） to the vastly amusing index wars of the eighteenth century， and onto the effective indexing that is Google search and hashtags， this puts the idea of search and information management into a Western cultural context。 Duncan discusses subject indexes （not indices）， concordances， Victorian attempts to create a universal index of knowledge （think Mr Casaubon in George Eliot's Middlemarch） and does it all with wit， an engaging sense of humour and genuine erudition。 And I'm still giggling at the innocence of Susan Boyle's PR team who created a hashtag to promote the launch of her new album but without paying attention to how it might read: #susanalbumparty！In lots of ways， this continues the scholarly interest in the history of the book， the history of reading， the book as material object （early chapters deal with scrolls， manuscripts and the codex before the advent of printed books） - and is good on how contemporary doom-mongering on how Google is making us all stupid is merely a reiteration of arguments against the index that have existed as long as the index itself。 Hugely enjoyable， enlightening and entertaining。 Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley 。。。more
Andréa
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Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss。
Sharyn
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I love the title of this fascinating book。 It is well written in a modern and very readable style and is full of interesting facts and snippets。 I can see a paper copy ending up with my books about the compiling of the OED。 With thanks to the publishers， the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an e-ARC Of this book。
Amanda
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For bibliophiles， taxonomists and others with a hankering to classify and put things in order， Throughout history， those resistant to change have accused the index of taking the place of books， of being something 'seedy， shameful'， and the cause of people not reading books properly。 This compact and learned book covers the evolution of the index and its response to shifts in the reading ecosystem。 Diverting。 For bibliophiles， taxonomists and others with a hankering to classify and put things in order， Throughout history， those resistant to change have accused the index of taking the place of books， of being something 'seedy， shameful'， and the cause of people not reading books properly。 This compact and learned book covers the evolution of the index and its response to shifts in the reading ecosystem。 Diverting。 。。。more
Maria Flaherty
，
'A History of the Index' is a delightful book that focuses on a topic that I have never considered previously - where did the idea of an index develop？ what role does it play？ From a simple idea， a fascinating and unusual book develops to cover diverse topics from heresy to politics， language to modern catalogs。 Using an index has played a far greater in society and also， in the scholastic years of my life， that I have ever contemplated。 While indexes are undoubtedly useful， an index is not freq 'A History of the Index' is a delightful book that focuses on a topic that I have never considered previously - where did the idea of an index develop？ what role does it play？ From a simple idea， a fascinating and unusual book develops to cover diverse topics from heresy to politics， language to modern catalogs。 Using an index has played a far greater in society and also， in the scholastic years of my life， that I have ever contemplated。 While indexes are undoubtedly useful， an index is not frequently viewed as fun - but don't make the same mistake when you read this title - this book is both a fun and engaging read。 Don't overlook this book - read it and enjoy。 。。。more
Jen Burrows
，
An interesting curio of a book。 The history of indexes touches on so many things: from the evolution of language， to study， to language， to data managment on a massive scale。Like the acts of writing and reading， compiling an index is necessarily subjective， and navigating this problem of perspective has meant that indexes have often been sites of political and philosophical tension。 There's an engaging self-awareness to Duncan's history - even here it's impossible to escape the circle of subject An interesting curio of a book。 The history of indexes touches on so many things: from the evolution of language， to study， to language， to data managment on a massive scale。Like the acts of writing and reading， compiling an index is necessarily subjective， and navigating this problem of perspective has meant that indexes have often been sites of political and philosophical tension。 There's an engaging self-awareness to Duncan's history - even here it's impossible to escape the circle of subjectivity - that makes Index both an enlightening and entertaining read。*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review* 。。。more
June Walters
，
This is a fascinating little book， who would have thought an index was so carefully calculated？ Whilst I am not much of an index user， to have read this book shows how the concept has evolved。A great little read for all the bibliophiles out there。Thank you NetGalley。
Terence Eden
，
This is a curious and charming book。 It's a book about books - more specifically， the last few pages of a book that you turn to if you can't remember where an entry was mentioned。 A meta-meta book， if you will。I'll confess - I don't think I've ever used an index。 Not for study nor for leisure。 Almost all of my reading since the turn of the century has been digital - so I hit+when I want to find something。 And， if I'm honest， I thought that indexes （never indices） were compiled automatically。 I h This is a curious and charming book。 It's a book about books - more specifically， the last few pages of a book that you turn to if you can't remember where an entry was mentioned。 A meta-meta book， if you will。I'll confess - I don't think I've ever used an index。 Not for study nor for leisure。 Almost all of my reading since the turn of the century has been digital - so I hit+when I want to find something。 And， if I'm honest， I thought that indexes （never indices） were compiled automatically。 I had no idea that that in the modern world， it was someone's actual job to create a useful index。The history of organising thought is extraordinary。 Once we reached "Big Data" （too many scrolls to fit on a single shelf） it becomes obvious that humans need metadata to make sense of the vast troves of material we generate。 The book goes from the earliest invention of indexing， through its surge is popularity， up to the modern day。 It covers the fashions， the spats， and the technology which unlocked its popularity。It almost exclusively focuses on English and Latin。 It would have been nice to learn about non-European indexes。If you're a lover of books， you'll love this。 It is a warm and witty look at the development of reading technology - and how it has helped shape both the world and the written word。 It has some beautiful images of early books which illustrate the main next nicely。Who knew that indexes could be so political and cause so much controversy？ It shouldn't surprise me， of course。 Gathering and presenting data is not a neutral act。Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy。 The book comes out later in 2021。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Index, A History of the
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Index, A History of the&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft