| Module Identifier |
DS36310 |
| Module Title |
ADVANCED RARE BOOKS LIBRARIANSHIP |
| Academic Year |
2003/2004 |
| Co-ordinator |
Dr Christopher M Baggs |
| Semester |
Available all semesters |
| Pre-Requisite |
DS36210 , Access to a working rare books collection. |
| Course delivery |
Other | |
| Assessment |
| Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
|---|
| Semester Assessment | A quasi-facsimile transcription inc. catalogue entry and commentary (1500 word equivalent) - weighted 40% | |
| Semester Assessment | Essay 2,500 words - weighted 60% | |
|
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
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Discuss the development of the printed book and some of its major participants in continental Europe.
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Analyse the principal physical characteristics of page layout in a printed book of the hand-press period.
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Identify the principal methods of book binding and problems of their conservation
-
Explain the different methods of book illustration
-
Outline the purposes and techniques of descriptive bibliography
-
Write a bibliographical description of a printed book
-
Transcribe a simple handwritten text of the early modern period
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Outline the use of provenance evidence in book history
-
Describe the different types of catalogues and bibliographies used in rare-books collections
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Create appropriate MARC catalogue records for a collection of early printed books by re-using existing machine-readable records to creating new ones
-
Examine the place of the rare book in the contemporary academic and commercial context
Brief description
This is the second of two modules on rare-books librarianship. It provides a more detailed examination of aspects of the specialist field, looking in particular at the development of the printed book in continental Europe in the hand-press period (to approximately 1850) and examining involved in creating descriptive bibliographies and catalogues of early printed materials.
This module will enable students to consider the book as a physical object (typography, bindings, illustration, evidence of ownership) and to understandits place in the modern scholarly context.
Content
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Unit One: History of the book; The Continental Book
The geography of early printing; Elements of page layout in early printed books; Scholar printers of the Renaissance; Christopher Plantin, prince of printers, 1520(?)-1589; The rise of the publisher
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Unit Two: The look of the book; binding and illustration
Book binding; Management of a bindings collection; Book illustration; Some aids to identification of technique
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Unit Three: Descriptive bibliography
What do we mean by "bibliography"? Bibliographies and catalogues; Edition, issue and state; Transcription; The collation formula; Ideal copy; Typographical analysis; Page measurements; Analysis of contents; Census of copies; Copy-specific information; Annotation and notes; Setting out a description
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Unit Four: Traces of Ownership
The study of handwriting; Provenance information
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Unit Five: Catalogues and cataloguing
Types of rare-books catalogue; MARC cataloguing; Copy-specific details; Retro-conversion; Book-in-hand cataloguing; form-based cataloguing; on-line cataloguing; Derived cataloguing; Indexing issues
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Unit Six: Beyond the Book
Policy issues; Describing non-book collections; Museum objects; Photographic materials; Scrapbooks and albums; Printed ephemera; Newspapers; Maps; Sound recordings
Aims
The module aims to allow student who have successfully completed module DS36210 Introduction to Rare Books Librarianship to:
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increase their knowledge of the history of the printed book and its associated technologies;
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increase their awareness of the curatorial problems involved in managing rare book collections;
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learn the skills of bibliographical analysis and description and specialist problems of rare books cataloguing.
Reading Lists
Books
** Recommended Background
Bowers, Fredson (1987) Principles of bibliographical description
Winchester: St.Paul's Bibliographies
Brown, M.P (1990) A guide to western historical scripts from antiquity to 1600
London: The British Library
Davison, Peter ed (1992) The book encompassed: studies in twentieth-century bibliography
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Gascoigne, Bamber (1998) How to Identify Prints
London: Thames and Hudson
Gaskell, Philip (1995) A new introduction to bibliography
Winchester: St.Paul's Bibliographies
Marks, P.J.M (1998) The British Library Guide to Bookbinding; history and techniques
London: The British Library
McKerrow, R.B (1995) An introduction to bibliography for literary students
Winchester: St.Paul's bibliographies
McLean, Ruari (1992) The Thames & Hudson Manual of typography
London: Thames & Hudson
Preston, J.E.F. and L. Yeandle (1992) English handwriting 1400-1650: an introductory manual
New York
Steinberg, S. H (1996) Five hundered years of printing
London: The British Library and Oak Knoll Press
Twyman, Michael (1998) The British Library Guide to Printing: history and techniques
London: The British Library
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6