>Wolfgang Undorf wrote:
>
>>Is there anyone who has an idea of why the titles on the spines of books
>>change orientation dependant on whether it is an English, German, or a
>>French publication? Some books have to ly on their back cover, others to
>>ly on the front cover so that the title on the spine can appear in
>>uppright position.
>>
>>Is their a reason for this phenomenon other than tradition?
>
A search of the archives of ex-libris and "SHARP-L" will find several
discussions of this topic. Henry Petroski has written a very readable
account of why books are stacked certain ways in his*The Book On The
Bookshelf.*
Gene