"Future Reading" begins by glancing at book digitization in 2007, then races over print history to grapple with antecedents. There are some chestnuts in the article, like the Library of Alexandria, Dewey, and microform, but also some unusual (for a general audience) touches.
For example, Grafton mentions the printing career of Giovanni Andrea Bussi (but not his role in the first modern censorship case). He touches on Jeremias Drexel, who apparently wrote an information guide ("Goldmine," which I haven't found yet). Thomas Harrison appears, and his cabinet connected to Leibniz (but not to the latter's computing experiments, oddly).
I suspect Grafton translated the actual title, Aurifondina artium et scientiarum omnium excerpendi solerti, omnibus litterarum amantibus monstrata.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11169213
Posted by: Steven | November 05, 2007 at 12:57
A librarian colleague of mine just mentioned this to me and he, too, noted some of its oddities. He wasn't sure what to think of it.
Posted by: Laura | November 05, 2007 at 21:38
Thank you, Steven! Now I see some New England libraries I can visit.
Laura, I wonder if it would make a good discussion piece...?
Posted by: Bryan Alexander | November 07, 2007 at 17:50