This film is a black-and-white film from the 1951 produced by AB Svensk Filmindustri, Sweden, in cooperation with UNESCO, presented by Encyclopædia Britannica Films. The film is directed by Martin Söderhjelm and photographed by Arne Lagercrantz and Ragnar Frisk with script by Martin Söderhjelm and Bertil Lauritzen. The film portrays an author, who narrates the film, explaining the research of writing a book, and the process and responsibilities of publishing a book.

Book pages are printed on a printing press (00:31). “The Book” title (00:38). Credits (00:46). A spinning globe (01:13). Cars driving on a road (01:22). Two girls stacking two pots (01:25). Altering scenes portraying the contrast between hectic London and life in more poor and rural regions (01:28). Book pages being printed (01:44). Footage of the author (01:50). Drums (02:01). A dance traditional to ancient China and a form of ceremony (02:07). Footage of the author (02:27). Scenes from an African tribe and traditional performances (02:36). An orchestra performance (03:04). A treetop (03:20). Rainfall (03:24). Flames (03:28). A stream (03:33). A harp player (03:37). Dancing women (03:39). C. Bechstein Piano playing (03:45). Author is smoking a pipe (04:30) and playing music on a record player (04:36). He sits down and writes on paper (04:56). He types on a typewriter (05:10). The author has a meeting with a publisher (05:27). He is reading in a library (05:53). He is smoking pipe and playing music on a record player (06:07). Typing on a typewriter (06:17). He watches an orchestra performance (06:29). He plays piano (06:50). He smokes a cigarette (06:57). Footage of the author using a recorder and footage seemingly Indigenous tribal dance laid overtop (07:09). He is listening to a record playing (07:24). He speaks to a composer (07:44). He writes using a typewriter (08:03). A meeting between five. Publishers (08:12). The author is meeting with a publisher (08:37). Printer specialists are creating the book (08:48). An artist has sketched cover designs (09:02). Publishers discuss those creations (09:14). Men work using typesetters to produce the book (09:26). The sketch artist is painting the book cover (09:50). The author is proofreading the book (10:00). Inc is printed onto the pages of the book (10:09). Workers assemble the book (10:14). A printing press is printing the pages for the book (10:24). The paper sheets are sorted and cut (10:44) and the pages are folded and glued to the cover (11:02) and wrapped for shipping (11:17). Book copies are piled up in a stock room (11:21). Trucks are loaded and drive off to distribute the books (11:37). The trucks drive through cities (11:46), highways (11:48), and country roads (11:51). The book copies are further transported by train (11:55). (11:59). A box of books is unpacked in a bookstore (12:07) and copies are displayed on the shelves and in the windows (12:17). A customer enters the bookstore (12:26). Footage of a copy displayed opened in the store’s window (12:37). Letters and symbols jump from the pages (12:43 and fill the screen (12:46). A customer buys a book (13:06). The customer reads the book at home while smoking a cigar (13:15). A mother is reading the book while feeding her two children (13:26). A man reads the book while walking in a library (13:31). A man is reading the book in a workshop while eating (13:39). Passengers on a train reading the book (13:48). A woman is reading the book while laying by a pool (14:00). An elderly man, sitting with two women, is reading the book (14:09). A hospitalized elderly person is reading (14:13). A uniformed woman is sitting on a couch reading (14:17). A man reads on a boat (14:26). A publishing office in another country (14:34). The book’s publishing office (14:45). The book is translated and printed in another countries (15:09). The author meets with his publisher (15:23). The book is printed in another country (15:37). Children of different ethnicities (15:51). Elderly people of different ethnicities (16:00). People of all ages of different ethnicities (16:07). Lap dissolves of books in different languages laid over the footage of the people (16:24). Pages and covers of different books (16:41). A printing machine (17:11).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com