The advent of electronic texts, of texts which may radically alter the nature of what Derrida calls "the civilization of the Book," may throw us as headlong into the past as into the future. Many of the "new" avenues of text organization, re-production and distribution have been traversed in the days before the advent of the printed book. Recalling their specific nature may help us illumine our paths forward.
Subjects of interest in this regard include:
Palimpsest
Manuscript Circulation
Illuminated Manuscripts
Album
Bestiary
Album Amicorum
The Commonplace Book
Emblem Book
Johannes Gutenberg and the Printed Book
William Blake and the Illuminated Book
John Ruskin, William Morris and the Gothic Revival
The Graphic Novel
The Electronic Bible
Electronic Book Hardware
CD-ROM
The Library of the Future: A New Electronic Canon
Hyperbook