This book's life began in 1973 when, as a newly arrived Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge, I became friends with three men. One, a contemporary and Fulbright like myself, Tony Grafton, already possessed the love of books and broad and deep knowledge of book history that has led him to both a distinguished chair at Princeton and rightful acknowledgment as one of the founders of the scholarly study of the history of the book. The second person to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude for starting me on the long road to this book was Tim Munby, one of twentieth-century England's greatest book men, who opened his library and his own vast store of knowledge to me. The third great influence on me in this subject was Sir Geoffrey Elton, Regius Professor of History at Cambridge, Fellow of Clare College, and historian extraordinaire. The many nights I sat with him drinking Glenfiddich and talking history and books were the richest intellectual experiences of my life. In the intervening years I have been fortunate to have benefited from the advice and assistance of countless scholars, librarians, and booksellers. I would be ungracious not to mention specifically Steve Sheppard, Rob Meade, Jim Brundage, Carolyn Clark, Mary Bilder, Alfred Murphy, Joe McKnight, Joel Fishman, Roy Mersky, Mike Widener, David Warrington, Karen Beck, Rick Surles, James Green, Douglas Osler, Steve Epstein, Jonathon Clark, Bill Wiecek, Ken Pennington, Joe Levine, Dan Hulsebosch, Bill Nelson, Amanda Zagnoli, and many others to whom I apologize for failing to name.