Spatiotemporal Concepts in Book Art

The perception of a book as an architectonical construction is a well-known fact. We could use the stage as a metaphor for the book, or, in other concepts the book becomes the equivalent of an exhibition space or even replaces it. In all these metaphoric circumlocutions the book not only reproduces content, but itself functions as an exhibition place, a stage, or another conception of space. Curiously enough, the consideration of the material aspects of books are taken into account at a time when digitalisation seems to dissolve the material body of books and, while theory makes it clear that texts and books are not equivalent. Therefore the question of what characterises a book is raised again. This question must take into account the variety of different approaches to books throughout the centuries. The perception of the book and, moreover, its relation with the user or reader becomes visible mainly through material aspects. The awareness of the spatial dimension of a book goes back to at least the Medieval period or even earlier.