On the Mark (Hardback)
A History of Punctuation from Ancient Egypt to the Emoticon
Preorder from
The first global history of punctuation tells the story of the marks that give voice to the written word
So. Good. So. Sharp. So. Clear. You. Need. This. Book. Period' Lucy Mangan, author of Bookish
Since the dawn of writing, punctuation has helped us tell our stories. Scribes in ancient Alexandria simplified their scrolls with full stops and commas, opening the doors of their library to the entire world. During the Renaissance, semicolons and exclamation marks empowered writers to satirise society and inject life and passion into their texts. Even today, the youngest generations creating new rules for emojis, caps and irony in the lexicon of online language.
In this riotous global history, Florence Hazrat reveals the creators and rebels who made punctuation what it is today, conjuring new meanings from commas and colons, parentheses and pilcrows. Witty and original, On the Mark journeys across the world and through the evolution of language, celebrating the silent marks that infuse our words with meaning and shape our literary cultures.
On the Mark (Ebook)
A History of Punctuation from Ancient Egypt to the Emoticon
Preorder from
The first global history of punctuation tells the story of the marks that give voice to the written word
So. Good. So. Sharp. So. Clear. You. Need. This. Book. Period' Lucy Mangan, author of Bookish
Since the dawn of writing, punctuation has helped us tell our stories. Scribes in ancient Alexandria simplified their scrolls with full stops and commas, opening the doors of their library to the entire world. During the Renaissance, semicolons and exclamation marks empowered writers to satirise society and inject life and passion into their texts. Even today, the youngest generations creating new rules for emojis, caps and irony in the lexicon of online language.
In this riotous global history, Florence Hazrat reveals the creators and rebels who made punctuation what it is today, conjuring new meanings from commas and colons, parentheses and pilcrows. Witty and original, On the Mark journeys across the world and through the evolution of language, celebrating the silent marks that infuse our words with meaning and shape our literary cultures.
Reviews for On the Mark
Mark Forsyth, author of THE ETYMOLOGICON
Lucy Mangan, author of BOOKISH
Simon Garfield, author of JUST MY TYPE
Dennis Duncan, author of INDEX, A HISTORY OF THE
Keith Houston, author of SHADY CHARACTERS
Eli Burnstein, author of DICTIONARY OF FINE DISTINCTIONS
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TLS
Spectator
Florence Hazrat
Dr Florence Hazrat is a researcher and writer, and a world expert on the history and culture of punctuation. A BBC New Generation Thinker, Dr Hazrat has appeared on Radio 4's Word of Mouth and is the host of a podcast on punctuation, Standing on Points. Her first book, An Admirable Point, a cultural history of the exclamation mark, was published by Profile in 2022.