Oh Kindle, Oh Nook, What we miss with the digital book

This 16th century book is an amazing example of gifted and creative craftsmanship. It has taken the “dos a dos” (“back to back”) technique of bookbinding to a new level by binding 6 books together, the collection itself able to be read in six different ways. These are all devotional texts including Martin Luther’s Der kleine Catechismus, printed in the 1550s and 1570s. Each book closes with its own very small clasp. This remarkable book is in the National Library of Sweden, its story uncovered by Erik Kwakkel, a medieval book historian from Leiden University.

Though this book would never have been part of someone’s daily commute in the late 16th century— Oh Kindle, Oh Nook, What we miss with the digital book.