bibliogony

American  

[bib-lee-og-uh-nee] / ˌbɪb liˈɒg ə ni /

noun

1. the art of producing and publishing books.

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Etymology

Origin of bibliogony

First recorded in 1835–45; biblio- + -gony

Explanation

Bibliogony refers to the making of books. It's not about the writing of books; rather, bibliogony is the physical and technical side of making books, such as printing, binding, and publishing them. The word bibliogony comes from the Greek biblio, meaning "book," and -gony, meaning "generation" or "production." Bibliogony, then, is the act and process of generating physical books. The word is rooted in the traditional craft of bookmaking — the ink, the paper, the binding, and the printing press — so it doesn't really apply to the digital publishing of e-books. Today, the word is rarely used outside of specialized studies, rare word lists, or historical texts describing the printing industry.