Summer 2010 Course Schedule

Information on past courses is available here.

Week 1: August 2-6, 2010

Course: Book Illustration Processes to 1900

Faculty: Terry Belanger

Description: The identification of illustration processes and techniques, including (but not only) woodcut, etching, engraving, stipple, aquatint, mezzotint, lithography, wood engraving, steel engraving, process line and halftone relief, collotype, photogravure, and color printing. The principal medium of instruction in this course will be actual examples of original prints drawn from the RBS collections, most of them divided into individual packets (one for each two students) all from the same (or a very similar) source. The students in the course will study these packets under close supervision, using 8X loupes and 30X microscopes (both provided), as necessary.

The CalRBS version of "Book Illustration Processes to 1900" will differ from the RBS Charlottesville version in that it will omit the laboratory sessions (in which students make relief cuts, etchings, and drypoints), providing more time for examining prints. The CalRBS version of the course pre-supposes a basic knowledge of print identification techniques; students who have already taken the course in Charlottesville (especially ifthey have not done recently) are welcome to apply for admission to the CalRBS version, which will rely heavily on RBS prints and printing surfaces acquired within the past several years.

Requirements: In their personal statement, prospective applicants should describe the extent of their formal and/or informal background in the field.

Course Readings: Before coming to class, please read (and, preferably, reread) all of How to identify prints, second edition (London [and NY]: Thames and Hudson, 2004) by Bamber Gascoigne. Gascoigne is both comprehensive and excellent. It costs $50 list, but check BestWebBuys or a similar Internet bookfinder to get the lowest online price. Many museum bookshops carry copies of the book, and in any event it should be relatively easy to get via interlibrary loan. There are plenty of copies of Gascoigne available in class, but you may wish to bring a copy with you to your session, so that you can review various sections of the book outside of class, between sessions or overnight.

I'll be referring constantly to Gascoigne in class, and you will get a lot less out of this course if you have failed to look seriously at the book before coming to RBS.There is always a waiting list for this course (and usually a long one). If you find that you do not have time to read Gascoigne before coming to RBS, please withdraw from the course or postpone attending until another time in order to make way for someone who is able to complete the advance reading.

You may also want to take a good look at an excellent general history of prints and printmaking: Hults, Linda C. The print in the Western world: an introductory history (Madison, WI: Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1996); $70 list. Hults' admirable book provides a starting point from which to acquire a broad overview both of separately published prints and of prints in books.

 

 

Course: Descriptive Bibliography

Faculty: Bruce Whiteman, The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles

Description: This introductory course is intended for special collections librarians, members of the rare book trade, and bibliographers whose scholarly work requires a practical knowledge of the precise, detailed physical description of printed books. It will address all matters involving the determination and description of a putative “ideal copy”; the correct distinction of editions, issues, states, and impressions; the accurate presentation of title-page, colophon, and other internal information; the identification of paper and watermarks, type, and illustrative contents; and the treatment of other features and circumstances of printing and distribution, including bookbinding. We shall focus above all on getting exactly right the understanding and close description of the format and collation of even the most complex books. We shall be concerned chiefly with books from the hand-press period (from the invention of printing to about 1820), but as time permits we shall also consider some of the earliest significant innovations of the machine age. Each class day will involve an intensive combination of lecture, supervised in-class exercises (largely the writing of full descriptions of progressively difficult original books in hand), and individual guidance.

Requirements: In their personal statements applicants should clearly describe all education, experience (or not), and professional expectations bearing upon this course. Although the course has no formal language requirements, students will benefit from at least some knowledge of Latin and the modern European languages, especially French, Italian, and German. Students are strongly encouraged to have read the course readings in advance and to own their own copies of the basic texts as recommended.

 

 

Course: Rare Book Cataloging

Faculty: Randal Brandt, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Description: Aimed at catalog librarians who find that their present duties include (or shortly will include) the cataloging of rare books or special collections materials. Attention will be given primarily to cataloging books from the hand-press period, with some discussion given to 19th and 20th century books in a special collections context. Topics include:

This course is restricted to working catalogers experienced in AACR2, MARC 21, and general cataloging principles and practices. No knowledge of early books is necessary. The goal of the course is to provide practice in each of the primary elements of the rare book catalog record, so that students will be equipped to begin cataloging their institutions rare book and special collections materials.

Requirements: In their personal statement, applicants should describe their experience with machine-readable AACR2 cataloging and provide a brief description of the types and date range of materials they expect to catalog with DCRM(B). In addition, applicants are requested to submit 1-3 typical bibliographic records of materials they currently are cataloging, preferably original cataloging of modern books or serials.

 

 

Course: Special Collections Librarianship: Operations & Administration

Faculty: Lynda Claassen, University of California San Diego and David Zeidberg, Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens

Description: An introduction to the principles and practice of special collections librarianship, with an emphasis on rare books.  Topics to be covered include: the definition and role of special collections, audiences and users, collection development, intellectual and bibliographic access, exhibitions and other outreach programs, preservation, physical facilities and security, grants and development, donor relations, ethics, intellectual property issues, and the impact of digitization on special collections operations and services. Institutional politics and culture and their implications for special collections will be discussed.

This course provides a conceptual and practical overview of special collections librarianship. It is intended for those who are interested in special collections librarianship, as well as those who have had limited formal training, instruction, or experience. We will consider how special collections contributes to fulfilling the teaching and research mission of educational and cultural institutions and examine strategies for enhancing and expanding the use of special collections among a variety of constituencies, especially in college, university, and independent research libraries. Current trends in higher education and libraries, including technology, will be considered from the perspective of their impact on special collections. The course will cover opportunities and challenges of the current environment, in particular maintaining core functions of special collections while adding new audiences and activities.

Participants will visit several important special collections libraries in the Los Angeles area; UCLA's Department of Special Collections, the Research Library at the Getty; The Huntington Library, and the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges.

Requirements: In their personal statement, applicants should provide a brief description of their library or special collections experience, the nature of their interest in this course, and specific topics or issues they would like to see addressed.

 

Week 2: August 9-13, 2010

Course: Artists' Books: Collection Development and Assessment

Faculty: Johanna Drucker, The Bernard and Martin Breslauer Professor of Bibliography, UCLA

Description: The field of artists' books includes work that spans the full spectrum of cultural objects, handmade originals, calligraphic and typographic experimentation, conceptual productions, and works produced in the traditions of fine printing and independent publishing. This course provides critical and historical perspectives from which to conceive of a collecting rationale for both individuals and institutions. This course is aimed at individuals and institutions interested in creating a collection of artists' books. To this end, the course begins with discussions of the definition of artists' books, critical approaches to the field, and principles of assessment and understanding based on conceptual, as well as production, values. The course continues with an historical discussion of the evolution of artists' books in the c20, an examination of significant people and presses in the field, and finally a discussion of reference resources. Though the course attempts to be as inclusive as possible, it is focused on helping design a collection strategy, rather than on an exhaustive look at every individual or institution contributing to this burgeoning field. The course focuses on those works that are artist initiated and produced, rather than on works in the fine printing tradition, livres d'artistes, or publisher-driven works, but it does acknowledge the importance of these areas as part of the expanded field of artists' books.

Requirements: In their personal statement, applicants should describe the purposes to which they plan to put the knowledge gained from this class.

 

 

Course: Books of the Far West, With an Emphasis on California

Faculty: Gary Kurutz, California State Library

Description:This course presents an introduction to the history of the book in California and an exploration of classic Western Americana. Topics will include 1) the bibliography and bibliographers of the Golden West with profiles of Robert E. Cowan, Henry R. Wagner, J. Frank Dobie, Carl I. Wheat, Francis P. Farquhar, Ramon Adams, Jeff Dykes, Lawrence Clark Powell, and others; 2) The Zamorano 80 (the most famous list of the important books of the West), Dawson 80, Washington 89, Arizona 50, and other lists; 3) The making of a Gold Rush bibliography; 4) Great illustrated books from Catlin to Landacre; 5) A Southland Bohemia: Charles Lummis to Ward Ritchie and print culture along the Arroyo Seco; 6) The Nineteenth Century book trade with a look at pioneer printing, publishing, and bookselling and early library formation and reading in the west; 7) fine press books and bibliophilic organizations. Some miscellaneous subjects will also be included such as cookbooks and menus; juvenile literature; rare books with local flavor from The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County to Ramona; “From Trains to Planes” and the literature of post pioneer travel; and, last but not least, ephemera. Visits to libraries, an antiquarian bookseller, and a private collector specializing in Western Americana will be an essential part of the course.


Course: Preservation Stewardship of Library Collections

Faculty: Mark S. Roosa, Pepperdine University

Description: An introduction to the principles and practices of contemporary library preservation with an emphasis on development and management of programs that make possible the responsible stewardship of analog and digital collections. Topics to be covered include: the physical characteristics of library materials, factors affecting collections and control strategies, assessing needs and setting priorities, and development and management of a balanced preservation program. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of science in preservation, conservation, reformatting endangered materials, and the safe exhibition methods. Theoretical models and innovative solutions to preservation problems will be explored as will approaches to aligning the library preservation program with the mission and agenda of the university, museum or institution. Participants will visit select libraries, preservation departments, and laboratories in the Los Angeles area and will hear from leading preservation practitioners.

Requirements: In their personal statement, applicants should provide a brief description of their library or preservation experience, the nature of their interest in this course, and specific topics or issues they would like to see addressed.

 

 

Course: History of the Book, 200-1820

Faculty: Susan Allen, The Getty Research Institute

Description: An inclusive survey, from manuscript to print to the end of the hand press era, supported by original materials wherever possible, aimed at those who have had no previous formal exposure to the history of the book and who want a broad, introductory overview of the subject. This course will be organized around format changes and technological transitions in book production, and their cultural impact. The course will introduce some theoretical issues in the current scholarship on the history of books, printing, authorship, and readership, including models and methodologies. However, understanding of and appreciation for the book as material object will be emphasized.

This course aims to provide an introductory vocabulary and a structure for students who wish to explore the history of books and printing through the hand press period. Topics include: the introduction of the manuscript codex, the impact of the invention of handmade paper, the growth of literate culture, the invention of movable type and the impact of printing on scholarship, science, and religion, the marketing and distribution of books, the rise of a reading public, and the transition to machine-powered printing at the beginning of the 19th century. Classroom instruction will emphasize giving students the opportunity to see and handle a broad range of manuscript and printed books, bindings, and printing equipment at research libraries in Southern California. While focusing primarily on Western Europe and North America, the development of papermaking and printing in Asia will be noted.

 

 

Costs

$995 per course (40 hours per week of instruction)

$1,800 if a student takes a course in week 1 and week 2