''Printing and the Mind of Man'' is a book first published in 1967 and based on an exhibition in 1963. ''PMM'', as it is usually abbreviated, is regarded as a standard

bibliographical Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

reference, and offers a survey of the impact of printed books on the development of

western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

. The book developed from an exhibition put on at two locations to coincide with the 1963 International Printing Machinery and Allied Trades Exhibition (IPEX). At the behest of typographer

Stanley Morison Stanley Arthur Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces o ...

it was decided to put together an exhibition of the contribution printing had made to the enlargement of human knowledge. A display at

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

concentrated on the technical side of printing, while a display at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

looked more at fine printing. However, both displays had the quite novel intention of promoting the study of books for their role in advancing factual knowledge, rather than for their aesthetics.

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

, who lent 40 books from his library, was among the private collectors who contributed to the exhibition. The Fleming Collection so central to the exhibit is now at Indiana University. The catalogue, (which might be considered the pre-first edition of ''PMM'') was printed by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, edited by John Carter, Stanley Morison, Percy H. Muir and others and entitled: ''Catalogue of a display of printing mechanisms and printed materials arranged to illustrate the history of Western civilization and the means of the multiplication of literary texts since the 15th century, organised in connection with the eleventh International Printing Machinery and Allied Trades Exhibition, under the title Printing and the Mind of Man, assembled at the British Museum and at Earls Court, London, 16–27 July 1963''. A book-length edition, revised and enlarged, was printed at

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

and published in 1967 by Cassell in London and Holt, Rinehart & Winston in New York. This first book edition was entitled ''Printing and the Mind of Man, a descriptive catalogue illustrating the impact of print on the evolution of Western civilization during five centuries''. It was edited by John Carter and Percy H. Muir and expanded upon the theme of the impact of printing on human thought. A second revised edition was published in 1983 by Karl Pressler in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

().

References

Further reading