Nicolas Barker

32: The History of European Handwriting [M80]

7-11 June 2004


 

1)   How useful were the pre-course readings?


1: Useful but challenging. Especially like the histories and also NB’s most precise introduction to the symposium on the Book at the Clark Library, UCLA. 2: Very useful. The general background texts were good for an overall perspective, and the other texts (which focused on specific time periods/geographic areas/hands) provided a nice array of concrete examples. 3: I think there were too many books relating the same information -- but very useful. To improve I would add some articles about the later period that is not covered in books. 4: Very good background information for the course -- I was able to obtain 90% of the list of books. 5: Very useful. 6: Readings more beneficial as a reference than as an introduction. 7: They were helpful. 8: Useful -- it’s good to arrive at class with some notion of the subject matter. 9: I found the readings very useful. They gave the background from pre-classical to classical to medieval that we did not have time to focus on in class. 10: The readings were very useful and quite interesting as background. (I wouldn’t have minded an expanded bibliography of detailed reading.) 11: Beautiful books that I am glad to add to my collection on letterforms.

 

2)   Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class useful (or will they be so in the future, after you return home)?


1: Yes. 2: Yes. More handouts like the Elizabethan alphabet/handwriting photocopies would be great. 3: We did not always follow the syllabus, although all things were covered. Of course this was the first time the course was taught. All wonderful examples; needed more examples outside of France, Italy and England, although this may not have been possible. I would have included some Celtic and Scandinavian examples. 4: Yes. Excellent -- amazing depth in RBS resources. The Charmscript Collection was extremely valuable in allowing use and constant work with primary documents. 5: Yes. 6: A photocopy hand-out of the various hands (in the form of a course-packet) would have been beneficial -- otherwise a lot of the material to keep straight. 7-8: Yes. 9: No syllabus given. A bibliography of sources which would be useful in studying particular writing style/hands would be very useful. 10-11: Yes.

 

3)   Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?


1: Overwhelmingly so. 2-5: Yes. 6: A little advanced -- assumed knowledge of at least more than one foreign language -- most of the English documents were hard enough. 7: Yes, indeed. 8: Yes. 9: Yes, very! 10-11: Yes.

 

4)   If your course had field trips, were they effective?


1: Yes! 2: Yes, our tour of the Reference Room was very useful -- both for our individual projects here and for any future work that we might have on similar topics. 3: The time spent with the Special Collections documents was wonderful. I am not sure that the hour and a half spent on reference sources here in the library was necessary (but then I have an MLS). 6: Yes -- most work done in class, however. 8: Yes! 9: Had to bring Special Collections to us -- it needed a little more organization. 10-11: Yes.

 

5)   What did you like best about the course?


1: NB and his wit, as a raconteur, and his precise memory, his connections with books and libraries. 2: NB’s teaching style is very enjoyable. He is able to reveal so many aspects on any topic that one learns a truly rich and multi-faceted history. 3: All of the examples and NB. 4: Difficult to decide between a) The ability to handle so many primary documents, manuscripts and consistently work with those documents to achieve greater facility in reading early hands. b) The breadth of NB’s knowledge in presenting the history of the development of handwriting. C) The resources that have been available -- books, RBS library, to support the course content -- manuals, etc. 5: The tremendous depth and range of the instructor’s knowledge made the class an extraordinary experience. Looking at the documents hands-on was an excellent introduction to the history of handwriting. It provided the exposure I needed to a wide variety of documents and style of handwriting. Also, the instructor’s teaching style was gentle and indirect, but very effective. The homework exercises were a very good way to learn. 6: NB. 7-8: The teacher. 9: As always, meeting new people, making connections, spending a week learning from a great instructor and the others in my class. 10: NB -- of course. Other things were the extensive collection of original manuscripts and reference and facsimile collection. 11: NB.

 

6)   How could the course have been improved?


1: Not quite so many examples, please. 2: Perhaps a more detailed syllabus (with references, etc.) 3: I would have added some readings covering handwriting after 1500. There were too many books covering the period before then. I would have tried to add more personal examples of handwriting (less legal, commerce, religion), even if they had to be reproductions. 4: There was less material covered that had a direct relationship to the earlier pre-c16. development of handwriting than I expected. 5: It was good as is. Perhaps a list of references of books we examined. More materials on screen and fewer going around the class. 6: An in-house course packet with examples from the class to help as a reference after the class -- hard to take notes on entire scripts -- better to have a representative image. 7: By using more Power Point presentations. 8: We made an improvement mid-course, which was to look at documents after the teacher had talked about them, and I found this preferable to looking at the batch of documents for which I had no context. This approach made the study of the documents more focused. 9: This course would be a perfect one to use networked laptops in. If digital images of the particular documents were sent to each of the students’ laptops simultaneously, we could all be looking at the particular point the instructor was making instead of trying to remember what we were to look at once the document finally made its way around the table. Sometimes they didn’t! 10: A bit of time expended on the materials of writing (pens, pencils, parchment, paper), and an expanded bibliography would have helped. In transcription, perhaps some “guided” exercises in transcriptions would have aided our work on the Secretary hand. 11: Can’t think of anything.

 

7)   We are always concerned about the physical well-being both of the RBS teaching collections and of materials owned by UVa’s Special Collections. If relevant, what suggestions do you have for the improved classroom handling of such materials used in your course this week?


3: It might have been good to remind students to only use pencils. While not all materials need to be personally handled it is much nicer -- easier to read than photocopies and easier to stay awake than slide shows. 4: None, the manuscripts used in our class were all handled in a professional way. 5: Use polymer folders for everything -- especially documents from Special Collections. 6: You would have to circulate the materials less if you selected fewer manuscripts selected for their representative quality -- quality rather than quantity. 7: By encouraging a hand washing routine after breaks -- and make sure that the soap dispenser does not run dry at the sink next door. 9: An announcement should be made at the very outset of the course that no pens will be allowed to be used. Several of us students had to tell other students to use pencils. Some were resistant. 10: Yes. 11: None.

 

8)   If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?


1: Oh yes! 2: Yes, absolutely! Both Terry Belanger and David Vander Meulen are engaging speakers, and they set the tone for a stimulating week. 3: Yes. 5: Yes. 6: N/A. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, although owing to unavoidable travel arrangements I was quite tired. 9: While I’m sure we’re in the minority, more vegetarian options at dinner would be nice. Always enjoy the “state of the union” address, and DVM’s Monday night lecture and slide show was very informative. 10: Yes -- DVM rocks! 11: Did not attend any except Sunday.


9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?


1: No, but I certainly appreciate the catalogues of both nights! 2: Yes, absolutely! Your emphasis on RBS holdings as a teaching collection presents such wonderful opportunities for us all. 5: Yes. 6: N/A. 8: I took a quick look, but the days here are long and class work had to take priority. 9: Did not attend. 10: Yes. It was wonderful to see the improvements and extension to the RBS collections, and to learn while doing so. 11: Did not go.

 

10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final thoughts?


1: The professor, classmates, ideas, and stories are always worth my money. 2: Yes. It was a wonderful week. I’m looking forward to coming back as soon as possible. 3: Yes. Tell other students to bring a sweater if they are staying in dorms. I would not recommend the Panda Garden resturant; it was ok but not great. 4: An extraordinary opportunity to be engaged with and by one of the extraordinary treasures in the world of the book -- NB, knowledgeable, generous, beyond measure -- his enthusiasm and love for the production of the Italian c16 writing masters is only equaled by his knowledge of the subject. I enjoyed the time well -- I learned a considerable amount in addition -- it was fun! 5: Take the class and any other class that NB teaches. 6: Yes -- the persons met in the course alone were worth the money. Good perhaps to have some experience or have a specific project in mind. 7: I found the course to be just as inspiring as I had hoped it to be. NB shared generously his wealth of knowledge with the class. The Power Point presentations were very helpful -- as was the blizzard of document samples that came our way. The projects that we were asked to do were most instructive. 8: Yes. 9: Yes! Suggestions: send out list of attendees prior to beginning of course. Create a way for individuals to network before they arrive to arrange to share rides from airports, etc. 10: Yes, absolutely. It was an extraordinary chance to meet such a learned and thoughtful authority on ideas and human communication. While the course can use some fine tuning, it should not lose it most salient features -- NB and the documents! 11: Generally, yes.


Number of respondents: 11


Percentages


Leave                       Tuition                    Housing                   Travel


Institution                 Institution                 Institution                 Institution

gave me leave            paid tuition               paid housing              paid travel


45%                            46%                            55%                            55%



I took vaca-                I paid tui-                  I paid for my              I paid my own

tion time                    tion myself                 own housing              travel


0%                              27%                            36%                            36%



N/A: self-                   N/A: Self-                   N/A: stayed                N/A: lived

employed, re-             employed,                  with friends               nearby

tired, or had              retired, or                  or lived at

summers off              exchange                   home


55%                            27%                            9%                              9%




There were three rare book librarians (27%), two archivists/manuscript librarians (18%), one general librarian with some rare book duties, two full-time students (18%), two book collectors (18%), and one artist/calligrapher (9%).


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