| Description |
224 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm |
|
text txt rdacontent |
|
unmediated n rdamedia |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 218-219) and index. |
| Contents |
I. How Writing Works. Ch. 1. Reading the Rosetta Stone. Ch. 2. Sound, Symbol and Script. Ch. 3. Proto-Writing -- II. Extinct Writing. Ch. 4. Cuneiform. Ch. 5. Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Ch. 6. Linear B. Ch. 7. Mayan Glyphs. Ch. 8. Undeciphered Scripts -- III. Living Writing. Ch. 9. The First Alphabet. Ch. 10. New Alphabets From Old. Ch. 11. Chinese Writing. Ch. 12. Japanese Writing. Ch. 13. From Hieroglyphs to Alphabets -- and Back? |
| Summary |
Writing is perhaps humanity's greatest invention. Without it there would be no history and no civilization as we know it. The Story of Writing is the first book to demystify writing for the general reader. In a succinct and absorbing text, Andrew Robinson explains the interconnection between sound, symbol and script, and goes on to discuss each of the major writing systems in turn, from cuneiform and Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphs to alphabets and the scripts of China and Japan today. He explores "proto-writing," including Ice Age symbols, tallies and Amerindian pictograms, and surveys the astonishing multiplicity of alphabets - not only Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Arabic and Indian scripts, but also the Cherokee "alphabet" and the writing of runes. |
| Subject |
Writing -- History.
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Paleography.
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Paleography. (OCoLC)fst01051420
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Writing. (OCoLC)fst01181638
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| Genre/Form |
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
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| ISBN |
0500016658 |
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9780500016657 |
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0500281564 (hbk.) |
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9780500281567 (hbk.) |
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9780500286609 (pbk.) |
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0500286604 (pbk.) |
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