LSP 351: Honors Seminar in the Humanities / ENG 356: Special Topics in Literature II
"Technology of the Book, 1500-1900"
January 30: Introduction to Bibliography
The hand press and machine press periods
Entry description workshop
Leslie Howsam, The Cambridge Companion to the History of the Book
Study guides: Sojourner Truth, Phyllis Wheatley, Emma Goldman, Yolanda Bonhomme, Rosa May Biillinghurst, Ida B. Wells, Mary Seacole, Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer
February 6: 500 years of Women’s Work: The Lisa Unger Baskin Collection
Class meets at The Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street between Madison & Park Avenues!
Complete and post your study guide PDFs by Sunday night at 10 pm on Blackboard’s “Discussion Board.”
Read all other study guides after Sunday evening, before your visit.
Buy (or arrange a bookshare for) our class textbook (Gaskell).
Watch this video and read about the exhibit (handout from class).
Read the Times article on The Grolier Club’s anniversary, “A Book Haven Turns 100”
February 13: Paper I
Post Grolier Club field report to Blackboard
February 20: Paper II
Quiz on Bibliography Basics from Class 1 moved to this week
Just for fun: “Papr” video from The Colbert Show
In class: Continue Format project / Thank you notes
February 27: Type, Composition, & imposition
Read Gaskell 9-39, 40-56, 81-87, (Type, Composition, and Imposition) or McKerrow 6-24, 175-199, 288-318
Type report: research a font of your choice (from any era) and write up a one-page informational report.
Read a chapter of your choice from A.F. Johnso’n’s Type designs: Their History and Development: Introduction; Roman; Italics; Script; or Advertising Type
Watch Videos:
Fonts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOgIkxAfJsk
A Brief History of Type: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XohCW4ecYyg
How to measure type: http://moodle.etcportal.org/mod/book/view.php?id=2297
Composition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iGqHIqBzis
Friday, March 6: New York International Antiquarian Book Fair
Class meets at 3pm at the Park Avenue Armory on 643 Park Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets at 4pm.
March 12: the center for book arts (CANCELLED)
Class meets at 28 West 27th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue at 3pm.
Field Report due on a bookstall from the NY Antiquarian Book Fair
Make-up Field Reports:
If you missed the NY International Antiquarian Book Fair, you may make up your field report by researching one of the following topics and writing up a field report on this instead. Your job is to learn as much as you can about the topic and condense it in a journalistic way for your classmates to understand.
Be sure to follow the regular guidelines for our field reports. Format everything beautifully on one page. You'll be asked to present this information by reading the field report aloud in class. Be sure to include an image!
1. The Schomburg Collection at the NYPL - Moesha
2. The Pforzheimer Collection at the NYPL - Sebastien
3. Richard Minsky & The Center for Book Arts - Sadele
4. Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Read the section on tidying books. - Otasha
5. Henry VIII, the Tudor & Stuart periods, and the English Reformation - Ricardo
6. The Bibliographic Society of America - Ysberth
7. The platen press and other machinery (use Gaskell & McKerrow as sources) - Lauren
8. Volvelles & Manicules - Tess
9. Edition, issue, & state
10. Arthur Schwarz, "A Book Collector Builds A Life" - (chapter in a book. Please PDF the essay and send it to me to share with the class.)
March 19: Moving to a Digital World
(ONLINE ZOOM Meeting at 2 pm)
We will spend Thursday simply working out kinks on our video conferencing platform, practicing breaking up into small groups, and getting ready to resume the rest of the semester next week.
I’ll also do open office hours so everyone gets a chance to speak with me individually or in small groups about any concerns.
Read about “Books that Bring Authors Comfort” and “At the Library, Last Call for Beauty and Books”
HW: Post your NY International Antiquarian Book Fair field report or prepare your Make-up Field Report instead.
Revisit the amazing blog posts you guys whipped up during our first class! Books that Comfort - http://www.olivialoksingmoy.com/booksthatcomfort
Read Leah Price, What We Mean When We Talk About Books: Introduction and Chapter 1: “The Real Life of Books.” Choose a passage that stands out to you and write a 3-paragraph reflection, to be posted on Blackboard and read aloud next week.
Rewatch all the type videos linked above from Feb 27.
March 26: Type
Class sharing: International Antiquarian Book Fair field reports and Font & Typeface reports
Discussion: Leah Price, What We Mean When We Talk About Books
Review: Type, type setting & typefaces from Feb 26 class: Gaskell 9-39, 40-56 (Type and Composition) or McKerrow 6-24, 175-199, 288-318
Group work: comparing typefaces. Familiarize yourself with vocabulary to help describe and compare.
HW: Read Gaskell, 81-87, 118-141 and 146-153
Familiarize yourself with the parts of a printing press. (Image here)
Read and/or listen to Anne Fadiman, “Marrying Libraries.” Post a creative piece in response (personal essay) in the style of Fadiman (1-2 pp.) on Blackboard. (Give your eyes a rest and listen to the essay here; audio file courtesy of Jennifer M.)
Email me an Insta-worthy photo & caption from the book fair or related to something you’ve learned about typeface/fonts.
Review typeface videos and class notes for a simple quiz on type.
April 2: Presswork & Bookbinding
Presentations: Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up; Volvelles & Manicules; Richard Minksy & The Center for Book Arts; platen press & other machinery
Class sharing: Center for Book Arts recap
Lesson: Gaskell 81-87, 118-141 and 146-153
Video: Gutenberg Printing Press (inking): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLctAw4JZXE
Breakout Groups: Study groups for printing press terms and images. (See images on Gaskell, 83, 263 + 264)
HW: Study for quiz on printing press.
Read or listen to: Anne Fadiman, “Never Do That To a Book.”
Read Gaskell pages on Illustration Processes for next class (listed below).
spring break: april 8-10
No class until April 16! Take a break and don’t think about bibliography for 7 whole days!
(But anyone who’s fallen behind can take the next 2 weeks to catch up on assignments and post them on Blackboard.)
April 16: our asyncrhonous “no spring break” class
This week’s class will be asynchronous, meaning you can do it on your own time. However, I will still be around at 2pm to answer any questions or talk you through the the material.
1) Watch American Animals (2018 film) OR read the rest of Leah Price’s book. Write your digital essay response on either the book or the movie.
American Animals (2018) is available on HBO+, or try fmovies.to, 123movies.com, or series9.io if you’d like to watch it on your own time.
For those who want to watch it together, we will be streaming it on April 16 at 2 p.m. in class.The rest of Price’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Books is available here: Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 + endpapers.
2) I will present the three major assignments for the rest of the semester. Make sure you understand the final assignments and plan what you’ll do to complete them by end of term.
HW for next week: Read Gaskell 154-159, 266-273 on Illustration Processes for next week.
Read Anne Fadiman, “Never Do That To a Book” if you haven’t already.
Read The Vanity Fair article on the theft of Audobon’s Birds here.
Read about a different copy of Audobon’s Birds for sale at Christie’s here.
Please use these two weeks to catch up on any and all missing assignments. Post them to Blackboard.
April 23: illustration processes
Review on printing press. Quiz on printing.
Lesson: Download skeleton notes here. Add more details on your own throughout today’s class! Gaskell 154-159, 266-273
Group Activity: Relief v. Intaglio; woodcuts; burnishing & engraving; drypoint, etching, mezzotint, stipple, aquatint, color plates
Lesson: How to Print an Intaglio Plate; From Paper to Copper: Engraving; Wood engraving; William Blake’s engravings; Lithographs; Woodcuts
Some helpful glossary pages: https://fleuron.lib.cam.ac.uk/glossary
Discussion: American Animals or the rest of Price’s book.
Organize work on Digital Projects. Our CUNY Academic Commons Page: https://rarebooks.commons.gc.cuny.edu
HW: Read ”What and Why First Editions”
Read Anne Fadiman, “Words on a Flyleaf” if you haven’t already.
Read Arthur Schwarz, “A Book Collector Builds a Life.” Browse other essays in the book collection on Google Books.
Study for quiz on illustration processes.
Select a photo and write a short bio (in the third person) to be included on the Members section of the CUNY Academic Commons Page. Email this to me.
April 30: collecting & provenance
(Asynchronous class option below. Synchronous class features special guest lecturers Prof. Jane Cleland & Arthur Schwarz.)
Watch this video on Presswork at RBS
Quiz on Illustration Processes: Download it here. Please PDF the document with your answers and drop it in your Dropbox (or email it to me as a PDF).
”Blooks”: read this blog post and watch this video.
Lesson: Edition, Issue, State: read this article thoroughly. List, learn, and understand the terms as you take notes.
Read what was recently in the news: L’Affair Astrophil! “A Billion-Dollar Scandal Turns the ‘King of Manuscripts"‘ into the "‘Madoff of France’”
Synchronous class activities:
Guest lecturers: Prof. Jane Cleland, former bookseller; Arthur Schwarz, collector.
Prof. Cleland’s handout available here.
If you need, brush up on your 16 c. English history & Henry VIII here.
Presentation on Schomburg Collection (Moesha).
Discussion: “A Book Collector Builds a Life”
Group Activity: Searching ABE books, create a wishlist of 5 items given a budget of $5,000. Come up with parameters for your group’s own collection.
4 pm: Final paper planning & office hours
HW: Study for quiz on Provenance.
Digital Essays due.
Read Howsam, “Book History in the classroom”
Create your own study guide for the Final Exam. Review the syllabus and your class notes.
Decide on your paper topic, create an outline, and run it by me (in a zoom meeting or an email).
May 7: eric holzenberg Collection - virtual visit
Quiz on Collecting & Bookselling.
Virtual visit by Eric Holzenberg, Director of The Grolier Club
Final Exam Review
Office Hours & Paper Help
May 14: Final Exam
CUNY Academic Commons postings
Final Papers are due May 20. Post to Blackboard or email Prof. Moy.
