Both the articles, "Manuscripts" and "The Book of Nature and the Nature" deal with the issue of fixity in terms of the manipulation of words and content when copies of books were produced. By the end of the 12th century social and intellectual changes, affected the way in which books were written copied and distributed. In addition the introduction of paper and emergence of a Bourgeois class made the mass reproduction of books possible. This new class had a need for books which were not only in their subjects but also works of literature. The shift from parchment to paper and this new class of readers is similar to the current transition from physical books to e-books.
Thomas also explored the issue of credit during this time period. He mentions how difficult it was for an author to share his book without the use of a patron. A patron much like a publishing company in today’s world would distribute the book or give it good word for others to read. “It was impossible for these writers to retain any literary rights in their work unless they jealously kept the text of their composition to themselves” (Thomas, 6). The author received credit only through the first edition of the book and continuously diminished thereafter. This is still in some terms relevant for present authors because once they publish their book than that information may be used by others to build on and may at times not even receive credit.
Johns also discusses the issues of fixity and credit in his article, “The Book of Nature and the Nature”. He specifically emphasizes on piracy and how it has affected the credibility of books over time. Piracy occurred when the copies of books were manipulated with false information. Two books from the same author were never the same, which affected the credibility of the book. This is an issue for authors today in the form of Wikipedia’s and plagiarism. He also makes the argument of fixity and how it has enabled knowledge to be shared over time. He states that fixity “is the basis on which Eisenstein’s main claim that the Renaissance and Reformation were rendered permanent by the very permanence of their canonical texts, that nationalism develop thanks to the stabilization of laws and languages, and that science itself became possible on the basis of phenomena and theories reliably recorded” (Johns, 5).
The issues of fixity and credit continue to be relevant for author’s today with the facility of amateurs to contribute inaccurate or modified information through the web. The question of trust still arises today with printed text and as stated by Johns, fixity lies in the eyes of the beholder.
