1) How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Very useful. 2: I didn't get to all I had intended, but those I did read were very useful. I look forward to reading more once I get home. 3: Very helpful, though many in the class didn't get to them. 4: Very useful and directly relevant. 5: Very useful. 6: The best preparation was the whole course on illustration using Gascoigne. 7: Very useful in preparing you for the course. 8: Very. 9: Essential. 10: Quite good and relevant.

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: Very useful and appropriate, and I will draw on them when I return home. 2-3: Yes. 4: Only a brief synopsis was distributed -- I would like to see a fuller syllabus for this class provided. 5: Yes, they were. 6: Useful for class. 7: Yes. 8: Not very much distributed, but lectures were excellent. 9-10: Yes.

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

1: Yes. 2: Yes, just right for me. 3-4: Yes. 5: Very appropriate. It certainly stretched my mind. 6-10: Yes.

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

1: Yes -- the demonstration of lithography by Dean Dass was extremely useful. 2: Yes, our trip to see a lithograph being made was very interesting, informative, and worthwhile. 3: Yes -- the trip to see lithography being done was very important to the understanding of the process. 4: Yes -- seeing the lithograph made in the Fine Arts dept was very helpful. 5: Very well spent. The demonstration of lithography was quite helpful. 6: It was not only well-spent, it was crucial to understanding the role of lithography in the whole history of printmaking. 7: Always. 8: Yes, the one field trip we took to see how lithographs were made was excellent. 9: Yes. The lithographic printing demonstration helped to clarify the production methods. 10: Yes.

5) Did the actual course content correspond to its RBS brochure description and Expanded Course Description (ECD)? Did the course in general meet your expectations?

1-10: Yes.

6) What did you like best about the course?

1: All of it! The demonstration of lithography was invaluable and the afternoon devoted to ephemera was highly relevant, but everything else was crucial too. 2: MT's depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject. He made us all realize the importance and fascinating features of this sometimes neglected art. 3: MT: his knowledge, enthusiasm, visual aids, and courtesy. 4: The intelligence, wit, and knowledge of the instructor. I was very impressed by how much he knows and loves his subject, and by the fact that he never seemed to get ruffled by the behavior of our outspoken and somewhat unruly class! 5: The opportunity to see original materials (the slides were good, too) and learn from an expert. 6: The instructor's knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject in equal measure. 7: Detailed explanations of fine points and illustrations of techniques by a variety of means: slides, rare materials from UVa's collections, as well as demonstration of printing from a lithographic stone. 8: The knowledge and enthusiasm of our instructor. 9: The instructor -- expert knowledge, master teacher and excellent storyteller. I feel most fortunate to have studied with MT this summer. 10: The chance to see and inspect the materials in an academic/learning environment.

7) How could the course have been improved?

1: It couldn't. 2: Just a minor quibble -- perhaps interspersing the actual examples more often, to break up the longish slide sessions. 3: A more extensive bibliography would have made a useful keepsake. 4: If it weren't for MT, parts of this class would be intolerable: by which I mean that there is too much minutiae and intensive focus on the history of the European scene. I would like to see more summary of some of the excruciating details so that the class could focus more on the practical identification of techniques -- many of which are so complicated that we didn't have time to feel confident or to reinforce what we had started to learn. I realize it's impossible to do everything in a week, but perhaps a better balance could be achieved. 5: Perhaps not quite as many slides, and more time to see the real thing. 6: Shorter breaks, more MT. 7: No need to improve. We just have to start applying what we learn in class. 8: More examples and discussion of American lithography -- its history and origins. 9: Breaks in the presentations to examine original materials, more original examples. 10: Speaking strictly personally, I would have liked more "how to identify" instruction -- less time in music publishing.

8) 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?

1: Handling was OK. The Mellinex sleeves were essential in protecting the single sheets. 2: I saw no major handling problems. 3: Official cautions about using pencil. 4: Students used pens when they should not have been permitted. 5: Very fragile items are better off if they stay in the Mylar folders. 6: None come to mind. 7: Preliminary instruction on how to handle the materials may be useful to students who are not familiar with Special Collections rules and regulations. 8: Everyone seemed to "handle with care." 9: Handling seemed OK. Two concerns -- the Senefelder volume needs conservation treatment (re-bind?) and the staff needs more time to deliver and return the Special Collections items.

9) Please comment on the quality/enjoyability of the various RBS activities in which you took part outside of class (e.g. Sunday afternoon tour, Sunday night dinner, evening lectures, Bookseller Night, Video Night, Study Night, tour of the Alderman digital/electronic centers, printing demonstrations, &c.).

1: All were enjoyable. I went to all except Video Night. 2: Sunday night dinner was important mainly for meeting everyone and getting oriented. By 7:00 pm I was out of gas, and couldn't bring myself to come back to Alderman for study or videos. 3: Apparently there needs to be more encouragement to attend Study Night and/or Video Night. 4: In order of descending quality/usefulness: Monday lecture, Study Night, Bookseller Night. 5: Tour was helpful, dinner very pleasant, lecture on Monday interesting, but about 15 minutes too long; lecture on Sunday interesting. 6: Participated by choice, in Sunday wine but not salads, Study Night, Bookseller Night -- enjoyed all. 7: The Monday lecture was excellent! 8: The daily breaks, morning and afternoon were great intellectually -- although a concern calorically. 9: Study Night was very useful. I appreciated the extra time to examine books and artifacts. Thanks for staying open until 10 pm. 10: Always enjoy the conviviality and congeniality of the week, no matter the specific setting.

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

1: Yes. (If I had to pay it would have been good value.) 2: Anyone who deals with publications in the c19 and c20 should take this course. It's a real eye-opener. I definitely got my money's worth. 3: As always, the RBS experience, even just the part outside the classroom, is worthwhile. That said, the class was incredibly informative. I carry away a much clearer understanding of a terribly confusing field. 4: I think RBS is on the expensive side for librarians. However, I have to say it is worth it -- at least this class has been for me. 5: Absolutely got value for the money! Can recommend this course to future persons taking it. 6: Yes -- MT is a treasure! 7: Absolutely! Highly recommend this course to anyone interested in the subject. You couldn't get a better instructor anywhere else than MT. Thank you for a great class! 8: Yes -- a wonderful week. 9: Yes. This is a fabulous course for anyone interested in printing history and illustration history. The Book Illustration to 1890 course would be an appropriate pre-requisite and makes it easier to understand the context for this course. 10: Yes. Have already recommended this course to others, and will look at books/illustrations with a "new" eye.

Number of respondents: 10

There were three rare book librarians (30%), three book collectors (30%), one general librarian with some rare book duties (10%), one antiquarian bookseller (10%), one ephemera librarian (10%), and one art librarian (10%).

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