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Book Review of Book Production, 2nd edition by John Peacock

Book Review of Book Production, 2nd edition by John Peacock Hoggart esting to hear Voltaire take on current arguments about things which are 'good of their kind', not to be set against anything else, not to be judged. Voltaite's observation would have seemed natural to F R Leavis. Fot h e said again and again t h a t life is t o o short for time to be spent o n any• t h i n g but t h e best. T h a t is why Leavis is in some circles excoriated today. T h e Puritan! T h e Elitist! W h a t does h e know of the pleasutes, even the mer• its, of 'the popular arts'? How dare h e assert t h a t no properly e d u c a t e d p e r s o n should be i g n o r a n t of ' T h e G r e a t T r a d i t i o n in English L i t e r a t u r e ' ; or would t h i n k it w o r t h w h i l e to read 'light fiction' whilst knowing n o t h i n g of Hardy? Few h a v e Leavis's rigour and intellectual earnestness. But some know with a corner of their minds t h a t he is saying something vital. D BOOK PRODUCTION, 2nd edition John Peacock Blueprint (Chapman & Hall), London 1995 pp 512 ISBN: 1 85713 008 1 £49.00 There is no question that this is a most comprehensive and well- thought-out book and covers all aspects of book production. The contents pages are laid out extremely clearly and it is possible to find one's way round a complicated subject with ease. If a more detailed search is required, the comprehensive index will fill the gaps. Not only is the coverage of the subject good from an academic point of view, but the author's advice on trouble-shooting and getting out of trouble is also good. The chapter sequence is logical and sequential, with some very good examples of information providers in the shape of model orders and forms. Also, there are examples of calculation formulae for such items as paper usage. It is truly up-to-date and covers new BOOK REVIEW technology from author's DTP offerings to new scanning methods for illustration to on-demand and digital printing. It would be a foolish, or conceited, publisher who did not make sure that all his staff who have to deal with suppliers did not have a copy. It would do no harm to have a copy available for editorial staff as well. The section on copy preparation is precise and to the point. Another clear chapter which deserves to be specially mentioned is Section 5 which discusses the whole subject of "typesetting" and explains the mechanics and procedures which the publisher should adopt in these modern times in guiding the author and contributor along the rocky path of using their key strokes for the final product and banishing the secondary keying process, which up to only a few years ago was the only path to take. Many publishers should be grateful to John Peacock for this section alone. It is admirably clear and logical. It will be useful as a course book for training courses. Its comprehen• siveness will probably mean that it will be used by the lecturer rather than the students, certainly if they are beginners. On a negative side, I found the schoolmasterish style a little irritating. One of the glories of the book, worth publishing as a separate booklet, is almost 100 pages of extremely comprehensive glossary which for some odd reason is called a dictionary. 1 suspect some publishers would have found a section on dealing with "Overseas Suppliers" useful. I could not find any mention of this area. A guide to its pitfalls would have been useful. I can see no reason why non-UK publishers and suppliers would not find it of use. It would certainly give them an insight into the British way of working. Robin Smeeton Prodiu:tion Services Director, Butterworths 218 LOGOS 7/3 © WHURR PUBUSHERS 1996 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Logos Brill

Book Review of Book Production, 2nd edition by John Peacock

Smeeton, Robin
Logos , Volume 7 (3): 218 – Jan 1, 1996
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1996 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0957-9656
eISSN
1878-4712
DOI
10.2959/logo.1996.7.3.218
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Hoggart esting to hear Voltaire take on current arguments about things which are 'good of their kind', not to be set against anything else, not to be judged. Voltaite's observation would have seemed natural to F R Leavis. Fot h e said again and again t h a t life is t o o short for time to be spent o n any• t h i n g but t h e best. T h a t is why Leavis is in some circles excoriated today. T h e Puritan! T h e Elitist! W h a t does h e know of the pleasutes, even the mer• its, of 'the popular arts'? How dare h e assert t h a t no properly e d u c a t e d p e r s o n should be i g n o r a n t of ' T h e G r e a t T r a d i t i o n in English L i t e r a t u r e ' ; or would t h i n k it w o r t h w h i l e to read 'light fiction' whilst knowing n o t h i n g of Hardy? Few h a v e Leavis's rigour and intellectual earnestness. But some know with a corner of their minds t h a t he is saying something vital. D BOOK PRODUCTION, 2nd edition John Peacock Blueprint (Chapman & Hall), London 1995 pp 512 ISBN: 1 85713 008 1 £49.00 There is no question that this is a most comprehensive and well- thought-out book and covers all aspects of book production. The contents pages are laid out extremely clearly and it is possible to find one's way round a complicated subject with ease. If a more detailed search is required, the comprehensive index will fill the gaps. Not only is the coverage of the subject good from an academic point of view, but the author's advice on trouble-shooting and getting out of trouble is also good. The chapter sequence is logical and sequential, with some very good examples of information providers in the shape of model orders and forms. Also, there are examples of calculation formulae for such items as paper usage. It is truly up-to-date and covers new BOOK REVIEW technology from author's DTP offerings to new scanning methods for illustration to on-demand and digital printing. It would be a foolish, or conceited, publisher who did not make sure that all his staff who have to deal with suppliers did not have a copy. It would do no harm to have a copy available for editorial staff as well. The section on copy preparation is precise and to the point. Another clear chapter which deserves to be specially mentioned is Section 5 which discusses the whole subject of "typesetting" and explains the mechanics and procedures which the publisher should adopt in these modern times in guiding the author and contributor along the rocky path of using their key strokes for the final product and banishing the secondary keying process, which up to only a few years ago was the only path to take. Many publishers should be grateful to John Peacock for this section alone. It is admirably clear and logical. It will be useful as a course book for training courses. Its comprehen• siveness will probably mean that it will be used by the lecturer rather than the students, certainly if they are beginners. On a negative side, I found the schoolmasterish style a little irritating. One of the glories of the book, worth publishing as a separate booklet, is almost 100 pages of extremely comprehensive glossary which for some odd reason is called a dictionary. 1 suspect some publishers would have found a section on dealing with "Overseas Suppliers" useful. I could not find any mention of this area. A guide to its pitfalls would have been useful. I can see no reason why non-UK publishers and suppliers would not find it of use. It would certainly give them an insight into the British way of working. Robin Smeeton Prodiu:tion Services Director, Butterworths 218 LOGOS 7/3 © WHURR PUBUSHERS 1996

Journal

Logos – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1996

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