“The Book: Past, Present, and Future” is a virtual lecture series exploring the forms and purposes of books as methods of communication. Scholars with expertise in each aspect – how books have been used in the past, how society uses books now, and the possibilities of the future – will share with audiences the origins and use of these objects.

E-readers, digitization, and the internet are changing the way people access books and content. Dr. Sarah Werner, an independent historian, will share how techological advances are allowing historic books to be utilized in new ways. After the talk, participants are invited to discuss the ways in which we use books may be different in the future.

Funding for the series is provided by a grant from the Georgia Humanities Council.

Sarah Werner is an independent scholar of book history, early modern culture, and digital media based in Washington DC. She is the author of the recently published Studying Early Printed Books 1450–1800: A Practical Guide and the newly launched EarlyPrintedBooks.com. In combination, the two works provide an introduction to how books were made in the hand-press period and how we can study them today, in person and online. She is also the author of articles on feminist printing history, digital First Folios, an overview of the connections between book history and digital studies, and numerous pieces on Shakespeare in performance, as well as the author of Shakespeare and Feminist Performance and co-editor of PBSA. More about her scholarship and her consultancy work can be found at https://sarahwerner.net.