Rare Book School

Rare Book School (RBS) is pleased to announce its Summer Sessions
2001, a collection of five-day, non-credit courses on topics
concerning rare books, manuscripts, the history of books and
printing, and special collections to be held at the University of
Virginia from 4 June - 8 June, 16 July - 20 July, 23 July - 27 July,
30 July - 3 August, and 6 August - 10 August  2000.

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,
professional and avocational students of the history of books and
printing, book collectors, and others with an interest in the
subjects being treated.

The tuition for each five-day course is $745. Air-conditioned
dormitory housing (about $35/night) will be offered on the historic
Central Grounds of the University, and nearby hotel accommodations
are readily available.

For an application form and electronic copies of the complete
brochure and the RBS Expanded Course Descriptions (ECDs), providing
additional details about the courses offered and other information
about RBS, visit <URL:http://www.virginia.edu/oldbooks>

Or write

    Rare Book School
    114 Alderman Library
    University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, VA 22903-2498
    804-924-8851
    Fax: 804-924-8824
    oldbooks [at] virginia__edu

Subscribers to Conservation DistList may find the following Rare
Book School courses to be of particular interest:

31. History of European and American Papermaking (Monday-Friday, 4-8
June)

Papermaking from its introduction in Europe through the Industrial
Revolution, emphasizing changes in technology and the economics of
the trade. Topics include: labor and management, the identification
and description of paper in early books and manuscripts, and the
revival of hand-papermaking in the c20. The course will include
demonstrations of manufacturing techniques, and sessions in which
students will date and localize early papers on the basis of
watermark and other physical evidence. Instructor: John Bidwell.

John Bidwell,is Astor Curator of Printed Books and Bindings at the
Pierpont Morgan Library, before which he was Curator of Graphic Arts
in the Princeton University Library. He taught an earlier version of
this course at RBS five times with Timothy Barrett between 1987 and
1997.

32. Physical Evidence in Early Printed Books (Monday-Friday, 4-8
June)

The use of a wide variety of evidence S paper, type, rubrication and
illumination, bindings, ownership marks, and annotations S to shed
light both on questions of analytical bibliography and wider
questions of book distribution, provenance, and use. There will be a
fairly detailed discussion and analysis of both good and bad
features in existing reference works on early printing. The seminar
assumes a basic knowledge of descriptive bibliography and some
familiarity with Latin. Instructor: Paul Needham.

Paul Needham became Scheide Librarian at Princeton University in
1998, before which he worked at Sotheby's and at the Pierpont Morgan
Library. Among his books is Twelve Centuries of Bookbinding:
400-1600 (1979). He has given RBS Master Classes on early printed
books both at the Morgan and at the Huntington

72. Introduction to Codicology (Monday-Friday, 6-10 August)

The principles, bibliography, and methodology of the analysis and
description of Western medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. The
course includes a survey of the development of the physical features
of manuscript books and practical work by the students on particular
points. This is a course for non-specialists, but applicants must
have considerable background in the historical humanities; in
admitting students to the class, the instructor will prefer those
with at least an introductory knowledge of Latin. Instructor: Albert
Derolez.

Albert Derolez is Emeritus Professor at the Free Universities of
Brussels; he was formerly Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at
the Library of the State University of Ghent. He is the author of
Codicologie des manuscrits en icriture humanistique sur parchemin
(1984) and other books, and he is President of the Comiti
International de Paliographie Latine. He holds the Kenneth and
Shirley Rendell Chair in Manuscript Studies at Rare Book School.

73. Medieval and Renaissance Bookbinding Structures (Monday-Friday,
6-10 August)

An explanation of the diversities of European bookbinding
structures, up to and including the early period of more generalized
practice and division of labor. Topics: 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.

Christopher Clarkson has held conservation positions at the Bodleian
Library, the Walters Art Gallery, and the Library of Congress. An
internationally renowned consultant on the care of medieval
manuscripts and bindings, he is now in independent practice in
Oxford.

    Book Arts Press
    114 Alderman Library
    University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, VA  22903
    804-924-8851
    Fax: 804-924-8824
    oldbooks [at] virginia__edu
    <URL:http://www.virginia.edu/oldbooks>

Michael Kidd


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:52
                   Distributed: Friday, April 6, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-52-013
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