Rare Book School 1994

Books at Virginia
Rare Book School 1994

Books at Virginia: Rare Book School (RBS) offers five-day, non-credit
courses on topics concerning rare books, manuscripts, and special
collections. Students make a full-time commitment to any course they
attend, from 8:30 am to 5 pm, Monday-Friday; most students also attend
an informal dinner on the Sunday evening before their first class on
Monday. In addition to the formal classes, there are early evening
public lectures and other events throughout the five weeks of RBS.

The educational and professional prerequisites for RBS courses vary.
Some courses are primarily directed toward research librarians and
archivists. Others are intended for academics; persons working in the
antiquarian book trade; bookbinders and conservators; students of the
history of books, writing, and printing; and those generally interested
in the subjects being treated.

The tuition for each course is $525. Low-cost, air-conditioned dormitory
housing will be offered on the Grounds of the University, and nearby
hotel accommodation is readily available. Students are encouraged to
take advantage of RBS's housing to arrive a few days before their
course, or stay a few days later, in order to give themselves (and their
families) a better chance to explore the Charlottesville area, which
includes many sites of historic interest as well as various vacation
attractions.

For a copy of the RBS 1994 Expanded Course Descriptions sheet (providing
further details about the courses offered this year) and an application
form, write, fax, email, or telephone Rare Book School, 114 Alderman
Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2498: fax
804/924-8824; e-mail books [at] virginia__edu; telephone 804/924-8851.

**  Week One
    Monday 11 July - Friday 15 July

11. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITHOGRAPHY

    This course, which will explore a wide range of applications of
    lithography in Europe, is aimed at those who are concerned with
    books, prints, and ephemera especially of the first half of the 19th
    century. Topics include: Senefelder and the discovery of
    lithography; lithographic stones and presses; the work of the
    lithographic draftsman, letterer, and printer; early lithographed
    books and other printing; the development of particular genres,
    including music printing; chromolithography in the context of color
    printing.

    Instructor: Michael Twyman

12. PUBLISHERS' BOOKBINDINGS, 1830-1910

    The study of publishers' bookbindings, chiefly in the United States,
    but with frequent reference to England, and occasional reference to
    Continental developments. Topics include: the rise of the edition
    binder; design styles and how they developed; new techniques,
    machines, and materials introduced in the 19th century; the
    identification of rarities; the physical description of bindings;
    the preservation of publishers' bindings. The course will make
    extensive use of the Book Arts Press's notable collection of
    19th-century binding exemplars.

    Instructor: Sue Allen

13. PRINTING DESIGN AND PUBLICATION

    In today's museums and libraries, the texts for readers'
    instructions, call slips, signs, announcements, posters, checklists,
    and full-dress catalogs are generally composed on microcomputers,
    often by staff members with little graphic design experience. This
    course will teach the principles of good design within the limits of
    readily available software programs, centering on work generated by
    a laser printer and reproduced on a photocopier (but without
    neglecting more complex projects requiring the use of a commercial
    printer). The course will include critiques of past examples and
    project work which students bring with them to class. There will be
    a field trip to a commercial printer.

    Instructor: Greer Allen

14. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS FRIENDS AND RELATIONS

    This course is aimed at three interlocking constituencies: donors
    (and potential donors); the officers of friends-of-the-library
    groups; and special collections librarians with part-time
    responsibilities for development and donor relations. The following
    topics will be considered from the point of view of each of these
    groups: why, when, and how collectors and other donors give (and
    why, when, and how libraries accept) special collections materials;
    special collections development and fundraising, and what friends
    groups can (and cannot) do to help; contributions, tax law, and
    dealing with the IRS (including the new requirements on contribution
    reporting).

    Instructor: Wm P. Barlow, Jr

15. THE ANTIQUARIAN BOOK TRADE: An Introduction for Rare Book Librarians

    This course is intended to improve rare book librarians' ability to
    deal effectively with the antiquarian book trade. Topics include:
    the interlocking structure of the used and antiquarian book
    business; the movement of rare books (including book fairs and
    auctions); the ABAA; how dealers see libraries; successful
    library-dealer business relationships.

    Instructor: Peter Howard

**  Week Two
    Monday 18 July - Friday 22 July

21. HISTORY OF THE PRINTED BOOK

    The production and impact of the printed book in the West since the
    15th century. The transition from MS to printed book; technical and
    stylistic aspects of book production (paper, ink, type, presswork,
    illustration, binding); the professions of authorship, printing, and
    publishing; changing patterns of book distribution; the book as an
    economic, social, and cultural force. Aimed at those who have had
    little or no previous formal exposure to this field.

    Instructors: Alice Schreyer and Peter M. VanWingen

22. EUROPEAN DECORATIVE BOOKBINDING

    An historical survey of decorative bookbinding in England and on the
    European Continent, concentrating on the period 1500-1800, but with
    examples drawn from the late 7th century to the late 20th century.
    Topics include: the emergence and development of various decorative
    techniques and styles; readership and collecting; the history of
    bookbinding in a wider historical context; the pitfalls and
    possibilities of binding research. Enrollment in this course is
    limited to those who have already taken Nicholas Pickwoad's RBS
    course in a previous year (see below, no. 43).

    Instructor: Mirjam Foot

23. MANAGING THE PAST

    This course is intended for librarians and others for whom the
    custody and deployment of books printed or written before 1850 is
    part of the day's work. How to make the most of what you've got,
    what to buy, how to buy, whether to sell (and if so, how and when)
    is on the agenda; but the core of the course will be the analysis of
    copy-specific data: what makes this copy in (or about to be in) my
    library different from and more important than anyone else's?

    Instructor: Nicolas Barker

24. BOOK ILLUSTRATION TO THE YEAR 1880 (Session I)

    The identification of illustration processes and techniques,
    including woodcut, etching, copper engraving, drypoint, stipple,
    aquatint, mezzotint, lithography, wood engraving, steel engraving,
    color printing, process relief prints, collotype, and photogravure.
    The course will be taught from the extensive Book Arts Press files
    of examples of illustration processes. As part of the course,
    students will make their own etchings, drypoints, and relief cuts in
    supervised laboratory sessions. Offered again in Week 3.

    Instructor: Terry Belanger

25. INTRODUCTION TO RARE BOOK LIBRARIANSHIP (Session I)

    Overview of the theory and practice of rare book librarianship.
    Topics include: the function of rare books in libraries; the
    interpretation of rare book collections to their publics; patterns
    of use; special collections' reference materials; security;
    environmental desiderata; exhibitions and publications; friends'
    groups. Offered again in Wk 3.

    Instructor: Daniel Traister

26. INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET

    A practical introduction to accessing and navigating the Internet.
    Topics include: options for connecting to the Net, and ways and
    means for doing so; introduction to the global range of online
    resources available (e-mail, information servers, library catalogs);
    techniques for finding what you need; a look at what is coming in
    the near future. Familiarity with basic computer skills such as
    word-processing is expected, but it is assumed that applicants will
    be individuals (eg antiquarian booksellers, independent scholars, or
    librarians at institutions not yet supporting network usage) who
    have no previous experience with electronic communications.

    Instructor: David Seaman

**  Week Three
    Monday 25 July - Friday 29 July

31. COLLECTING TRAVEL LITERATURE

    Travel literature in research library collections through
    consideration of the following topics: travel literature as a genre;
    the development of travel literature from ancient times to the end
    of the 19th century; major themes in travel literature (commerce,
    religion, science, adventure, journalism); travel literature as an
    approach to many disciplines (anthropology, ecology, geography,
    geology, natural history, oceanography, sociology); maps and
    illustrations; bibliographies and major collections; philosophy of
    collecting (originals, facsimiles, modern editions).

    Instructor: John Parker

32. MUSIC AS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ARTIFACT

    An introduction to the most common music printing
    processes--letterpress, engraving, and lithography--and the music
    publishing practices that have resulted from each. The primary
    evidence--originals and reproductions, archival sources, and
    secondary scholarship--will be evaluated and discussed.

    Instructor: D. W. Krummel

33. BOOK ILLUSTRATION TO THE YEAR 1880 (Session II)

    For a description of this course, see above, no. 24. The first
    session of the course (18-22 July) is aimed particularly at those
    whose background in print identification is weak. This session of
    the course is aimed particularly at those who have some background
    in print identification, but who would like further exposure to the
    subject.

    Instructor: Terry Belanger

34. INTRODUCTION TO RARE BOOK LIBRARIANSHIP (Session II)

    For a description of this course, see above, under no. 25. The first
    session of the course (18-22 July) is intended for professional
    librarians who have had no formal training in this field but whose
    duties now include the administration or care of rare book
    collections. This session of the course is open to all those with an
    interest in rare book librarianship, whether or not they are
    currently working in a library or have had formal training in the
    field.

    Instructor: Daniel Traister

35. ADVANCED SEMINAR IN SPECIAL COLLECTIONS ADMINISTRATION

    Tactics special collections librarians may use for interpreting
    needs and objectives to their library and university
    administrations; assuring an active role for special collections in
    the research and curricular programs of their institutions;
    fundraising, including the most effective use of friends' groups;
    coping with tight budgets; measuring the success of the strategies
    selected. The design of the seminar will emphasize group discussion.
    Participants will be expected to contribute pertinent ideas,
    approaches and strategies based on their experience.

    Instructors: Samuel A. Streit and Merrily E. Taylor

36. ELECTRONIC FORMATS IN A RARE BOOKS ENVIRONMENT

    Taking advantage of Alderman Library's computer instruction
    facilities, this course will provide practical training in the
    conversion of printed records to electronic formats. The course's
    emphasis will be on the character-based SGML texts, but it will also
    discuss image formats and strategies for making resources available
    on the Internet.

    Instructor: John Price-Wilkin

**  Week Four
    Monday 1 August - Friday 5 August

41. AIMS AND METHODS OF CODICOLOGICAL RESEARCH

    The archeology of the book, especially of the 12th-15th centuries,
    including (1) the study in depth of the single MS, particularly the
    links between codicological features (structure, layout, script,
    decoration, &c.) and text and illustration; and (2) the statistical
    study of groups of MSS as a contribution to our knowledge of
    medieval and Renaissance book production. Aimed at researchers in
    the field of medieval studies, MS librarians, and antiquarian
    booksellers. Applicants should have at least an introductory
    knowledge of Latin and of paleography.

    Instructor: Albert Derolez

42. INTRODUCTION TO MEDIEVAL AND EARLY RENAISSANCE BOOKBINDING STRUCTURES

    An explanation of the diversities of European bookbinding
    structures, up to and including the early period of more generalized
    practice and divisions of labor. Topics include: identification
    (where possible) of the main types of binding structures; their
    dating and provenance; the recognition and recording of materials
    and techniques.

    Instructor: Christopher Clarkson

43. EUROPEAN BOOKBINDING, 1500-1800

    How bookbinding in the post-medieval period developed to meet the
    demands placed on it by the growth of printing: techniques and
    materials employed to meet these demands; the development of
    temporary bindings (eg pamphlets and publishers' bindings); the
    emergence of structures usually associated with volume production in
    the 19th century; the development of decoration; the dating of
    undecorated bindings; the identification of national and local
    binding styles.

    Instructor: Nicholas Pickwoad

44. THE BOOK IN THE INDUSTRIAL ERA: 1820-1914

    The physical description of 19th-century American and English books.
    A major part of the course will consist of small, supervised
    laboratory sessions in which students will study various
    manufacturing and publishing patterns.  Restricted to those who have
    taken the RBS course Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography, or
    those who already have a good basic knowledge of bibliographical
    description, including format and collation, of books produced
    during the handpress period.

    Instructor: Michael Winship

45. RARE BOOK CATALOGING

    Aimed at catalog librarians who find that their present duties
    include (or shortly will include) the cataloging of rare books
    and/or special collections materials. Attention will be given to
    cataloging both books from the handpress period and 19th- and
    20th-century books in a special collections context. Topics include:
    comparison of rare book and general cataloging; application of codes
    and standards; uses of special files; problems in transcription,
    collation and physical description; setting cataloging policy within
    an institutional context.

    Instructor: Suzy Taraba

46. INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC TEXTS

    An introductory exploration of the range of research, preservation,
    and pedagogical tasks that can be performed with electronic texts.
    Topics include: finding and evaluating commercial and other e-texts;
    the creation of e-texts through OCR scanning and other methods;
    introduction to SGML tagging; introduction to text analysis tools;
    the management and use of online texts and related network
    resources. The course assumes familiarity with e-mail and basic
    computer skills such as word-processing, but no previous experience
    with electronic texts.

    Instructor: David Seaman


**  Week Five
    Monday 8 August - Friday 12 August

51. INTRODUCTION TO LATIN PALEOGRAPHY

    Introduction to early scripts (Caroline, Gothic, Humanistic) and
    their abbreviations, studied from a practical viewpoint. The
    principal aim of the course is to teach students how to read and
    correctly transcribe book scripts of varying degrees of difficulty
    covering the period 800-1500. The course will deal with Latin,
    English and French texts. Students are expected to be proficient in
    Latin.

    Instructor: Albert Derolez

52. TYPE, LETTERING, AND CALLIGRAPHY, 1450-1830

    The development of the major formal and informal book hands, the
    dominant printing types of each period, and their interrelationship.
    Topics include: the Gothic hands; humanistic script; the Renaissance
    inscriptional capital; Garamond and the spread of the Aldine Roman;
    calligraphy from the chancery italic to the English round hand; the
    neoclassical book and its typography; and early commercial
    typography.

    Instructor: James Mosley

53. PUBLISHING HISTORY, 1775-1850

    Changes that occurred in the publishing and related industries
    during the late 18th and the earlier 19th centuries, especially in
    Great Britain, but with frequent reference to the US. The
    transformation of organizational structures (from bookseller to
    publisher, the decline of the Stationers' Company, the rise of
    unionism); new technologies (machine-made paper, the power press,
    edition binding in cloth); the rise of a mass market (the growth of
    periodicals and newspapers, changes in patterns of distribution).

    Instructor: Michael Turner

54. INTRODUCTION TO DESCRIPTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Introduction to the physical examination and description of books,
    especially of the period 1550-1875. The course is designed both for
    those with little or no prior exposure to this subject and for those
    with some general knowledge of the field who wish to be presented
    with a systematic discussion of the elements of physical description
    (format, collation, signings, pagination, paper, type, illustrations
    and other inserts, and binding). A major part of the course will
    consist of small, closely-supervised laboratory sessions in which
    students will gain practice in determining format and collation.

    Instructors: Terry Belanger and David Ferris

55. RESEARCH LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT

    This course is aimed at those who have recently assumed (or who are
    about to assume) development duties in research libraries. Topics
    include: developing a solid foundation (a dependable annual fund);
    the big gift (identifying, cultivating, and securing major gifts);
    corporate and foundation possibilities; politics (dealing with the
    realities of institutional competition); matchmaking (reconciling
    the interests of donors with the library's documentary and
    technological requirements).

    Instructors: Lynda Corey Claassen and Myrna Jackson

                                  ***
                                Faculty

GREER ALLEN has designed publications for the Beinecke Library, the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Houghton Library, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Newberry Library, Stanford University, the University
of Chicago, and many other libraries and museums. He was formerly Yale
University Printer.

SUE ALLEN is recognized as the foremost authority on 19th-century
American book covers. Her detailed research, lectures, writings and
exhibitions guide librarians and conservators to the selective
preservation of English and American bookbindings of the 19th century.

NICOLAS BARKER is Libraries Adviser to the National Trust. He has
written many books on bibliographical subjects, among them STANLEY
MORISON (1972) and BIBLIOTHECA LINDESIANA (1977). He is the Editor of
THE BOOK COLLECTOR.

WM P. BARLOW, JR. is a partner in the Oakland, CA, accounting firm of
Barlow & Hughan. He has advised many individuals and institutions on
bibliographical tax matters both in a professional capacity and as an
officer of a number of Bay area library friends groups. A well-known
book collector, he is the President of the Bibliographical Society of
America.

TERRY BELANGER founded RBS in 1983 at Columbia University, where he had
various positions in the School of Library Service. Since 1992, he has
been University Professor and Honorary Curator of Special Collections at
the University of Virginia.

LYNDA COREY CLAASSEN is both Head of the Mandeville Department of
Special Collections and Library Development Officer at the University of
California, San Diego, where she has had oversight for the creation and
growth of a library development program in a large public university.

CHRISTOPHER CLARKSON directs a program for the training of book
conservators at West Dean College in Sussex. Formerly Conservation
Officer at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, he has also worked
at the Library of Congress and at the Walters Art Gallery.

ALBERT DEROLEZ is Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at the Library
of the State University of Ghent and Professor at the Free Universities
of Brussels. He is a specialist in medieval and Renaissance manuscripts.
He is the author of CODICOLOGIE DES MANUSCRITS EN ECRITURE HUMANISTIQUE
SUR PARCHEMIN (1984).

DAVID FERRIS is Curator of Rare Books at the Harvard University Law
School Library, where one of his interests is the descriptive
bibliography of early printed books. He has been connected with RBS
since 1986 and its Associate Director since 1990.

MIRJAM FOOT is Director of Collections and Preservation in The British
Library. She is the author of many books and articles on the history of
bookbinding, including STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF BOOKBINDING (1993) and
(with Howard Nixon) THE HISTORY OF DECORATED BOOKBINDING IN ENGLAND
(1992).

PETER HOWARD is the owner of Serendipity Books in Berkeley, CA. He has
recently completed a term as President of the Antiquarian Booksellers
Association of America.

MYRNA JACKSON is Director of Development for the Duke University
Libraries, before which she was director of development for Arts and
Sciences at Duke.

D. W. KRUMMEL is Professor of Library Science and Music at the
University of Illinois at Urbana. His recent studies include THE
LITERATURE OF MUSIC BIBLIOGRAPHY (1992) and the Norton/Grove handbook,
MUSIC PRINTING AND PUBLISHING (1990).

JAMES MOSLEY is Librarian of the St Bride Printing Library in London,
the largest library of its kind in the English-speaking world. He has
lectured widely in the United States on typographical subjects. He was
the founding editor of the JOURNAL OF THE PRINTING HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

JOHN PARKER recently retired as Professor and Curator of the James Ford
Bell Library at the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities. He has written
extensively on the history of exploration and discovery, and on rare
book librarianship.

NICHOLAS PICKWOAD recently became Conservator at the Harvard University
Library. He was formerly Adviser for Book Conservation to the National
Trust in the United Kingdom. This will be the 14th time he has taught
this celebrated course in RBS.

JOHN PRICE-WILKIN is Systems Librarian for Information Services at the
University of Virginia, before which he was Data Services Librarian at
the University of Michigan, where he pioneered the provision of
campus-wide electronic access to literary and linguistic texts.

ALICE SCHREYER is Curator of Special Collections at the University of
Chicago. She is the author of THE HISTORY OF BOOKS: A GUIDE TO SELECTED
RESOURCES IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (1987). From 1988-93 she was Editor
of RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS LIBRARIANSHIP, a journal published by the
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and she is a past
chair of the ACRL's Rare Books & Manuscripts Section.

DAVID SEAMAN is Coordinator of the Electronic Text Center at the
Alderman Library, University of Virginia. He is the co-compiler (with
John Kidd) of THE ELECTRONIC JOYCE. He lectures frequently on the use of
electronic texts in the humanities.

SAMUEL A. STREIT is Associate University Librarian for Special
Collections at Brown University, where his duties have included
renovating the John Hay Library, developing public relations strategies,
and undertaking a major expansion of the Friends of the Library.

SUZY TARABA is Public Services Librarian in the Regenstein Library's
Department of Special Collections at the University of Chicago, before
which she was Head of the Rare Materials Cataloging Unit, Perkins
Library, Duke University.

MERRILY E. TAYLOR assumed her present post of University Librarian at
Brown University after working in libraries at Yale and Columbia. Her
duties have required extensive involvement with planning, budgeting,
public relations, building projects, and fundraising.

DANIEL TRAISTER is Curator of Research Services in the Department of
Special Collections at the University of Pennsylvania. A past chair of
the Rare Books & Manuscripts Section of ACRL, he has published important
articles dealing with aspects of rare book librarianship.

MICHAEL TURNER is Head of Conservation at the Bodleian Library, Oxford
University, before which he was Head of Special Collections at the
Bodleian. He lectures frequently in the United States. A former
President of the Printing Historical Society, he is the editor of
PUBLISHING HISTORY.

MICHAEL TWYMAN is head of the Department of Typography & Graphic
Communication at the University of Reading. He is the author of
LITHOGRAPHY 1800-1850 (1970) and other important works on the history of
lithography.

PETER M. VanWINGEN is Specialist for the Book Arts in the Rare Book and
Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress, where he has
been concerned with many aspects of the history of the book. He is a
past chair of the Rare Books & Manuscripts Section of ACRL and a former
President of the American Printing History Association.

MICHAEL WINSHIP is Associate Professor of English at the University of
Texas at Austin. He is the Editor of the recently-completed 9-volume
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE, and he is a frequent lecturer on
subjects dealing with American bibliography.

                                  ***
                           Summary of Courses
                              week by week

**  Week One: Monday 11 July - Friday 18 July

    11. The Development of Lithography (Michael Twyman)
    12. Publishers' Bookbindings, 1830-1910 (Sue Allen)
    13. Printing Design and Publication (Greer Allen)
    14. Special Collections Friends and Relations (Wm P. Barlow, Jr.)
    15. The Antiquarian Book Trade: An Introduction for Rare Book
        Librarians (Peter Howard)

** Week Two: Monday 18 July - Friday 22 July

    21. History of the Printed Book (Alice Schreyer and Peter M.
        VanWingen)
    22. European Decorative Bookbinding (Mirjam Foot)
    23. Managing the Past (Nicolas Barker)
    24. Book Illustration to the Year 1880: Session I (Terry Belanger)
    25. Introduction to Rare Book Librarianship: Session I (Daniel
        Traister)
    26. Introduction to the Internet (David Seaman)

**  Week Three: Monday 25 July - Friday 29 July

    31. Collecting Travel Literature (John Parker)
    32. Music as Bibliographical Artifact (D. W. Krummel)
    33. Book Illustration to the Year 1880: Session II (Terry Belanger)
    34. Introduction to Rare Book Librarianship: Session II (Daniel
        Traister)
    35. Advanced Seminar in Special Collections Administration
        (Samuel A. Streit and Merrily E. Taylor)
    36. Electronic Formats in a Rare Books Environment
        (John Price-Wilkin)

**  Week Four: Monday 1 August - Friday 5 August

    41. Aims and Methods of Codicological Research (Albert Derolez)
    42. Introduction to Medieval and Early Renaissance Bookbinding
        Structures (Christopher Clarkson)
    43. European Bookbinding, 1500-1800 (Nicholas Pickwoad)
    44. The Book in the Industrial Era: 1820-1914 (Michael Winship)
    45. Rare Book Cataloging (Suzy Taraba)
    46. Introduction to Electronic Texts (David Seaman)

**  Week Five: Monday 8 August - Friday 12 August

    51. Introduction to Latin Paleography (Albert Derolez)
    52. Type, Lettering, and Calligraphy, 1450-1830 (James Mosley)
    53. Publishing History, 1775-1850 (Michael Turner)
    54. Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography (Terry Belanger and
        David Ferris)
    55. Research Library Development (Lynda Corey Claassen and Myrna
        Jackson)

-tb

Terry Belanger
University Professor
University of Virginia
Book Arts Press
114 Alderman Library
Charlottesville, VA 22903
804-924-8851
Fax: 804-924-8824

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:56
                 Distributed: Monday, January 31, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-7-56-004
                                  ***