Why do all the books in Game of Thrones library have their covers facing the back of the shelf?












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How do they know the title of each book in the citadel library in Game of Thrones if the book's back faces the wall?



Game of Thrones library










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  • 2





    I’m seeing a wall of book spines... admittedly without visible titles, but they’re not stored ‘backwards ‘

    – Tetsujin
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    I suspect, you can take the book off the otherside of the shelf...

    – morbo
    7 hours ago






  • 1





    @Tetsujin I'm seeing a wall of book covers, both front and back, with sunken spaces in between them that presumably show the edges of the books' pages. It's especially visible if you look at the second shelf on the left, and look at the tops of the books.

    – BrettFromLA
    3 hours ago
















13















How do they know the title of each book in the citadel library in Game of Thrones if the book's back faces the wall?



Game of Thrones library










share|improve this question









New contributor




Юра Бут is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 2





    I’m seeing a wall of book spines... admittedly without visible titles, but they’re not stored ‘backwards ‘

    – Tetsujin
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    I suspect, you can take the book off the otherside of the shelf...

    – morbo
    7 hours ago






  • 1





    @Tetsujin I'm seeing a wall of book covers, both front and back, with sunken spaces in between them that presumably show the edges of the books' pages. It's especially visible if you look at the second shelf on the left, and look at the tops of the books.

    – BrettFromLA
    3 hours ago














13












13








13


1






How do they know the title of each book in the citadel library in Game of Thrones if the book's back faces the wall?



Game of Thrones library










share|improve this question









New contributor




Юра Бут is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












How do they know the title of each book in the citadel library in Game of Thrones if the book's back faces the wall?



Game of Thrones library







game-of-thrones






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Юра Бут is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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edited 6 hours ago









Napoleon Wilson

42k41271519




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asked 9 hours ago









Юра БутЮра Бут

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New contributor





Юра Бут is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Юра Бут is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 2





    I’m seeing a wall of book spines... admittedly without visible titles, but they’re not stored ‘backwards ‘

    – Tetsujin
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    I suspect, you can take the book off the otherside of the shelf...

    – morbo
    7 hours ago






  • 1





    @Tetsujin I'm seeing a wall of book covers, both front and back, with sunken spaces in between them that presumably show the edges of the books' pages. It's especially visible if you look at the second shelf on the left, and look at the tops of the books.

    – BrettFromLA
    3 hours ago














  • 2





    I’m seeing a wall of book spines... admittedly without visible titles, but they’re not stored ‘backwards ‘

    – Tetsujin
    8 hours ago






  • 1





    I suspect, you can take the book off the otherside of the shelf...

    – morbo
    7 hours ago






  • 1





    @Tetsujin I'm seeing a wall of book covers, both front and back, with sunken spaces in between them that presumably show the edges of the books' pages. It's especially visible if you look at the second shelf on the left, and look at the tops of the books.

    – BrettFromLA
    3 hours ago








2




2





I’m seeing a wall of book spines... admittedly without visible titles, but they’re not stored ‘backwards ‘

– Tetsujin
8 hours ago





I’m seeing a wall of book spines... admittedly without visible titles, but they’re not stored ‘backwards ‘

– Tetsujin
8 hours ago




1




1





I suspect, you can take the book off the otherside of the shelf...

– morbo
7 hours ago





I suspect, you can take the book off the otherside of the shelf...

– morbo
7 hours ago




1




1





@Tetsujin I'm seeing a wall of book covers, both front and back, with sunken spaces in between them that presumably show the edges of the books' pages. It's especially visible if you look at the second shelf on the left, and look at the tops of the books.

– BrettFromLA
3 hours ago





@Tetsujin I'm seeing a wall of book covers, both front and back, with sunken spaces in between them that presumably show the edges of the books' pages. It's especially visible if you look at the second shelf on the left, and look at the tops of the books.

– BrettFromLA
3 hours ago










2 Answers
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16














Having books with the spine facing out is a relatively recent innovation.




For the record, when you tuck a book away with the title-bearing spine pointing out, you’re carrying on a tradition that began roughly 480 years ago. “The first spine with printing dates from 1535, and it was then that books began to spin into the position we’re familiar with,” says Mari.



But before book, there were scrolls, and that’s where Mari’s story starts.





- Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
- Smithsonian




Since Game of thrones is a fantasy and seems to be (comparatively) set in what would have been something close to Earth's "Middle Ages" with knights and kings all warring constantly this seems to be a pretty accurate depiction of a library.




As scrolls gave way to books, new shelves and a new organizational system were in order.




For the next fourteen hundred or so years, books, as Henry Petroski, a professor of civic engineering and history at Duke, writes in The Book on the Bookshelf, were shelved every which way but straight up, spine out. Engravings of private studies show books piled horizontally, standing on the edge opposite their spine (their fore edge), as well as turned fore edge out.




Before the printing press books were ornate constructions, and in comparison to what came after they were both highly valuable and in short supply.




In the Middle Ages, when monasteries were the closest equivalent to a public library, monks kept works in their carrels. To increase circulation, these works were eventually chained to inclined desks, or lecterns, thus giving ownership of a work to a particular lectern rather than a particular monk.




When space got tight the monks moved their books to shelves, but they stacked them with the spines hidden. Which, as you can imagine, would have been quite confusing. The solution, Mari says: “Sometimes an identifying design was drawn across the thick of the pages.”





- Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
- Smithsonian




So, to answer your question about how they were identified: there were sometimes identifying markings on "The thick of the pages".






share|improve this answer































    2














    Originally the shelf marks and titling of a book was written on its fore-edge, the paper part of the book, not on the back (the spine) the way they are today.



    The GOT library is modeled after the chained library of Hereford Cathedral. In that library the books have only shelf marks and they are written on the fore-edge, so the fore-edge is the part of the book facing outwards.






    share|improve this answer































      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes








      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      16














      Having books with the spine facing out is a relatively recent innovation.




      For the record, when you tuck a book away with the title-bearing spine pointing out, you’re carrying on a tradition that began roughly 480 years ago. “The first spine with printing dates from 1535, and it was then that books began to spin into the position we’re familiar with,” says Mari.



      But before book, there were scrolls, and that’s where Mari’s story starts.





      - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
      - Smithsonian




      Since Game of thrones is a fantasy and seems to be (comparatively) set in what would have been something close to Earth's "Middle Ages" with knights and kings all warring constantly this seems to be a pretty accurate depiction of a library.




      As scrolls gave way to books, new shelves and a new organizational system were in order.




      For the next fourteen hundred or so years, books, as Henry Petroski, a professor of civic engineering and history at Duke, writes in The Book on the Bookshelf, were shelved every which way but straight up, spine out. Engravings of private studies show books piled horizontally, standing on the edge opposite their spine (their fore edge), as well as turned fore edge out.




      Before the printing press books were ornate constructions, and in comparison to what came after they were both highly valuable and in short supply.




      In the Middle Ages, when monasteries were the closest equivalent to a public library, monks kept works in their carrels. To increase circulation, these works were eventually chained to inclined desks, or lecterns, thus giving ownership of a work to a particular lectern rather than a particular monk.




      When space got tight the monks moved their books to shelves, but they stacked them with the spines hidden. Which, as you can imagine, would have been quite confusing. The solution, Mari says: “Sometimes an identifying design was drawn across the thick of the pages.”





      - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
      - Smithsonian




      So, to answer your question about how they were identified: there were sometimes identifying markings on "The thick of the pages".






      share|improve this answer




























        16














        Having books with the spine facing out is a relatively recent innovation.




        For the record, when you tuck a book away with the title-bearing spine pointing out, you’re carrying on a tradition that began roughly 480 years ago. “The first spine with printing dates from 1535, and it was then that books began to spin into the position we’re familiar with,” says Mari.



        But before book, there were scrolls, and that’s where Mari’s story starts.





        - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
        - Smithsonian




        Since Game of thrones is a fantasy and seems to be (comparatively) set in what would have been something close to Earth's "Middle Ages" with knights and kings all warring constantly this seems to be a pretty accurate depiction of a library.




        As scrolls gave way to books, new shelves and a new organizational system were in order.




        For the next fourteen hundred or so years, books, as Henry Petroski, a professor of civic engineering and history at Duke, writes in The Book on the Bookshelf, were shelved every which way but straight up, spine out. Engravings of private studies show books piled horizontally, standing on the edge opposite their spine (their fore edge), as well as turned fore edge out.




        Before the printing press books were ornate constructions, and in comparison to what came after they were both highly valuable and in short supply.




        In the Middle Ages, when monasteries were the closest equivalent to a public library, monks kept works in their carrels. To increase circulation, these works were eventually chained to inclined desks, or lecterns, thus giving ownership of a work to a particular lectern rather than a particular monk.




        When space got tight the monks moved their books to shelves, but they stacked them with the spines hidden. Which, as you can imagine, would have been quite confusing. The solution, Mari says: “Sometimes an identifying design was drawn across the thick of the pages.”





        - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
        - Smithsonian




        So, to answer your question about how they were identified: there were sometimes identifying markings on "The thick of the pages".






        share|improve this answer


























          16












          16








          16







          Having books with the spine facing out is a relatively recent innovation.




          For the record, when you tuck a book away with the title-bearing spine pointing out, you’re carrying on a tradition that began roughly 480 years ago. “The first spine with printing dates from 1535, and it was then that books began to spin into the position we’re familiar with,” says Mari.



          But before book, there were scrolls, and that’s where Mari’s story starts.





          - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
          - Smithsonian




          Since Game of thrones is a fantasy and seems to be (comparatively) set in what would have been something close to Earth's "Middle Ages" with knights and kings all warring constantly this seems to be a pretty accurate depiction of a library.




          As scrolls gave way to books, new shelves and a new organizational system were in order.




          For the next fourteen hundred or so years, books, as Henry Petroski, a professor of civic engineering and history at Duke, writes in The Book on the Bookshelf, were shelved every which way but straight up, spine out. Engravings of private studies show books piled horizontally, standing on the edge opposite their spine (their fore edge), as well as turned fore edge out.




          Before the printing press books were ornate constructions, and in comparison to what came after they were both highly valuable and in short supply.




          In the Middle Ages, when monasteries were the closest equivalent to a public library, monks kept works in their carrels. To increase circulation, these works were eventually chained to inclined desks, or lecterns, thus giving ownership of a work to a particular lectern rather than a particular monk.




          When space got tight the monks moved their books to shelves, but they stacked them with the spines hidden. Which, as you can imagine, would have been quite confusing. The solution, Mari says: “Sometimes an identifying design was drawn across the thick of the pages.”





          - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
          - Smithsonian




          So, to answer your question about how they were identified: there were sometimes identifying markings on "The thick of the pages".






          share|improve this answer













          Having books with the spine facing out is a relatively recent innovation.




          For the record, when you tuck a book away with the title-bearing spine pointing out, you’re carrying on a tradition that began roughly 480 years ago. “The first spine with printing dates from 1535, and it was then that books began to spin into the position we’re familiar with,” says Mari.



          But before book, there were scrolls, and that’s where Mari’s story starts.





          - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
          - Smithsonian




          Since Game of thrones is a fantasy and seems to be (comparatively) set in what would have been something close to Earth's "Middle Ages" with knights and kings all warring constantly this seems to be a pretty accurate depiction of a library.




          As scrolls gave way to books, new shelves and a new organizational system were in order.




          For the next fourteen hundred or so years, books, as Henry Petroski, a professor of civic engineering and history at Duke, writes in The Book on the Bookshelf, were shelved every which way but straight up, spine out. Engravings of private studies show books piled horizontally, standing on the edge opposite their spine (their fore edge), as well as turned fore edge out.




          Before the printing press books were ornate constructions, and in comparison to what came after they were both highly valuable and in short supply.




          In the Middle Ages, when monasteries were the closest equivalent to a public library, monks kept works in their carrels. To increase circulation, these works were eventually chained to inclined desks, or lecterns, thus giving ownership of a work to a particular lectern rather than a particular monk.




          When space got tight the monks moved their books to shelves, but they stacked them with the spines hidden. Which, as you can imagine, would have been quite confusing. The solution, Mari says: “Sometimes an identifying design was drawn across the thick of the pages.”





          - Libraries Used to Chain Their Books to Shelves, With the Spines Hidden Away
          - Smithsonian




          So, to answer your question about how they were identified: there were sometimes identifying markings on "The thick of the pages".







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 6 hours ago









          NifflerNiffler

          1,632121




          1,632121























              2














              Originally the shelf marks and titling of a book was written on its fore-edge, the paper part of the book, not on the back (the spine) the way they are today.



              The GOT library is modeled after the chained library of Hereford Cathedral. In that library the books have only shelf marks and they are written on the fore-edge, so the fore-edge is the part of the book facing outwards.






              share|improve this answer




























                2














                Originally the shelf marks and titling of a book was written on its fore-edge, the paper part of the book, not on the back (the spine) the way they are today.



                The GOT library is modeled after the chained library of Hereford Cathedral. In that library the books have only shelf marks and they are written on the fore-edge, so the fore-edge is the part of the book facing outwards.






                share|improve this answer


























                  2












                  2








                  2







                  Originally the shelf marks and titling of a book was written on its fore-edge, the paper part of the book, not on the back (the spine) the way they are today.



                  The GOT library is modeled after the chained library of Hereford Cathedral. In that library the books have only shelf marks and they are written on the fore-edge, so the fore-edge is the part of the book facing outwards.






                  share|improve this answer













                  Originally the shelf marks and titling of a book was written on its fore-edge, the paper part of the book, not on the back (the spine) the way they are today.



                  The GOT library is modeled after the chained library of Hereford Cathedral. In that library the books have only shelf marks and they are written on the fore-edge, so the fore-edge is the part of the book facing outwards.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 3 hours ago









                  Tyler DurdenTyler Durden

                  4,28352353




                  4,28352353















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