Bert Hansen *74

2 Weeks Ago

Grafton’s Book Wheel

Although I finished my graduate work in history just before Tony Grafton arrived, his prolific and fertile writings have been a continuous stimulation to the work of historians of several generations. But I think PAW’s editors missed a golden opportunity in not giving us a photo of his “wooden book wheel six feet tall and several feet across, ... where he keeps more than half a dozen lexicons and reference books.” Some of us are familiar with such devices from early modern woodcuts and paintings. But they are rare today, and I hope that PAW will remedy this oversight by publishing a photograph.

Anthony Grafton in his office

Anthony Grafton’s wooden book wheel is partially visible in this photo, which ran with a PAW cover story about the professor in April 2007. Photo by Ricardo Barros

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