Exeter has been a literate city for two millennia, but the printed word has only been present for a quarter of this period. Before that there were coins, monumental inscriptions, correspondence and legal documents. These were were inscribed on wooden sheets, parchment, occasionally papyrus, and only from the fifteenth century paper. Paper and print did not displace the manuscript tradition; several important histories of Exeter and Devon took centuries to get into print. Nor did the written word replace the oral tradition. News, information and ideas could be conveyed by proclamation, by sermons, by drama and by folk songs, such as those collected by Exeter-born SabineBaring-Gould.
The buildings on this walk are (or more often were) real structures, operated by real people, specialists often with years of experience using machines to produce and disseminate information in hard copy which should be stored to build the community’s memory in libraries and archives, guardians of knowledge that should be cherished in this digital age.
Places are limited: please book yourself in by contacting Ian Maxted per email (ianmaxted@hotmail.co.uk).
If enough people show interest there can be a rerun at 14:30. And again, if there is sufficient interest Ian can do additional tours in French and/or German.