Printer's Error Audiobook By Rebecca Romney, J. P. Romney cover art

Printer's Error

Irreverent Stories from Book History

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Printer's Error

By: Rebecca Romney, J. P. Romney
Narrated by: J.P. Romney
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Since the Gutenberg Bible first went on sale in 1455, printing has been viewed as one of the highest achievements of human innovation. But the march of progress hasn't been smooth; downright bizarre is more like it. Printer's Error chronicles some of the strangest and most humorous episodes in the history of Western printing. Take, for example, the Gutenberg Bible. While the book is regarded as the first printed work in the Western world, Gutenberg's name doesn't appear anywhere on it.

Today, Johannes Gutenberg is recognized as the father of Western printing. But for the first few hundred years after the invention of the printing press, no one knew who printed the first book. This long-standing mystery took researchers down a labyrinth of ancient archives and libraries, and unearthed surprising details, such as the fact that Gutenberg's financier sued him, repossessed his printing equipment, and started his own printing business afterward.

Like the works of Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, and Ken Jennings, Printer's Error is a rollicking ride through the annals of time and the printed word.

©2017 J. P. Romney and Rebecca Romney (P)2017 Tantor History & Culture Innovations Literary History & Criticism Words, Language & Grammar World Writing & Publishing Witty Middle Ages

Critic reviews

"A spritely visit to the land of rare books." ( Kirkus)
Witty Storytelling • Interesting Historical Timeline • Great Narration • Humorous Anecdotes • Thorough Research
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This is a fun book by people that love humanity, love our history, and love books. It is a series of short looks into fascinating historical instances around the printed word.

Fun

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This book was interesting from the 1st page. The authors weave A series of interesting facts and stories into a Eloquence although irreverent story books printing and most Importantly People.

I love this one

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Steeped in lore and mischievous storytelling, I found myself laughing and thoroughly engaged.

Kudos to J.P. Romney for pulling off a great performance.

Porn for Ye Old Bibliophiles

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Far more history than necessary, and not much of it was interesting. The writing was okay, and the research must have been substantial, but four hours was all I could take.

Pretty Dull

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Interesting take on a history few know. Some of the jokes were a bit much, but that's all good.

very good

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For some reason I thought this would be more specific than it was, but the stories told were good. Very funny with thrown in asides or things that would make you laugh. Very dry content but it was ok over all. I don't plan on reading/listening again.

okay

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I will buy dry factual books not only because I find them interesting but they help me get to sleep. This one actually had me chuckling. My favourite chapter was on Benjamin Franklin “makin’ it rain”. So funny. I will definitely listen to this one again.

Surprisingly Enjoyable

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Loved the author’s/narrator’s treatment of all the subjects and the busting of many myths and legends.

Fascinating information with just the right amount of sarcasm and humor.

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It's hard to express how much fun this book was. The authors take the marble-like icons of virtuous heroes and bring them down a notch, explaining how spite, jealousy, and downright psychopathy were involved in all aspects of book production and marketing.

Each chapter is a story from start to finish. Although they seem somewhat random, they cover some of the biggest names in book history. The humor is fantastic. The narrator does a great job with his dry biting wit. I laughed out loud in my car several times.

I've recommended this to several friends.

The only thing missing, and they came close to touching on it, were the 1930's and 1940's syndicates that produced series like the Hardy Boys, etc. where the author was fake and ghostwriters were paid $120 per book. I think these authors would do a spectacular job unearthing that mess.

Wickedly irreverent and funny. I laughed a lot.

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Learned a lot, was very interesting and entertaining. Actually delving into some of the topics even further.

Entertainment and educational

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