71: Introduction to the History of Bookbinding [B-10]
4-8 August 2003
1) How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Very. Provided much useful background to the material covered in class. 2: Very useful. I learned background info which was useful in understanding concepts. 3: Obtained four books and perused them. 4: Since the class covers so many kinds of bindings, it helped to see what you will be exposed to. 5: They were useful. Except for one title which I was unable to locate. I read them all, some several times. If there exists a simple, basic overview I think it would also be very helpful for those of us who came to the course with little practical experience. I’ll definitely re-read the assigned readings with, I’m sure, greater understanding. 6: The readings were very helpful -- I felt I had a good background on the major names, trends and events that were discussed in class. 7: The pre-course readings were quite helpful in order to learn the terminology and some of the basic techniques of bookbinding. 8: Extremely useful. 9: Very useful. 10: The readings were very useful. 11: The pre-course readings provided a good background to the subject and a basic introduction to the terminology. I look forward to looking at them again now that I have seen examples and will follow the arguments better. 12: Readings were very helpful. It was useful for familiarizing oneself with the terminology used and major historical trends. 13: Very much so; however, I think re-reading will put much of the material into perspective.
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. The syllabus provided a useful summary of the content of the course, and a helpful timeline was also provided. 2: Yes, but would have liked a simple outline. 3: Yes. 4: Yes they are. 5: Yes. 6: Yes. 7: The 30-page introduction should prove to be a very useful document to consult at a later date. 8: Extremely useful, especially the timeline and the written introduction -- I’ll certainly use them when I get back home. 9: Yes. They were useful here and will be a good resource in the future. 10: They were useful and will be so when I return home. 11: Yes. The syllabus is a wonderful overview of bookbinding and has many helpful definitions of terms. 12: Yes, they will be very helpful in the future. 13: Very appropriate and exactly what I wanted to learn.
3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
1: Yes, although pressure of time meant some areas were covered in more detail than others. 2: Yes. 3: Yes, the instructor was able to hold the attention of practitioners representing diverse settings -- including the National Library of Canada, British Library, Bodleian, Library of Congress, academic institutions (Vassar, Emory, University of Illinois) as well as two book dealers. 4: Yes it was. 5: Definitely. 6-8: Yes. 9: Yes. JSvL was able to accommodate and adjust to students’ varying levels of knowledge and experience. 10: Yes. 11: The intellectual level of the course content was very appropriate with plenty of explanations and illustrations for us beginners to the history of bookbinding. 12: Yes, content was entirely appropriate. 13: Yes.
4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: The three sessions spent in Special Collections provided a useful opportunity to look at some actual original examples of the types of binding discussed in class. 2: Yes, indeed. 4-1/2 hours! Special Collections. 3: Yes. 4: Yes it was. 5: Yes, definitely. The visit to Special Collections on the fourth day gave us the opportunity to apply what we had learned during the lectures and slide presentations. 6: Yes, our trip to the McGregor Room was very worthwhile. 7: Yes. The library’s collection provided many examples of the types of bindings that we had previously seen only in slides. 8: Yes, it was extremely well spent -- it would have been great if we could have spent even more time in Special Collections. 9: Yes, our sessions in Special Collections were well handled and informative. 10: Very well spent. 11: Our time was very well spent in Special Collections. It was great to see bindings from many centuries after days of only seeing slides. 12: Yes, very well spent. Helped reinforce concepts that could only be described or shown on slides in the classroom. 13: Very well spend; we were in Special Collections for three-fourths of one day and it was simply amazing to see the bindings we learned about and saw slides of.
5) What did you like best about the course?
1: The opportunity to look at and learn about a wide range of bindings, materials, and techniques under the eye of an expert instructor and in the company of a group of interesting and congenial classmates. 2: Instructor. 3: The instructor: JSvL is so knowledgeable -- he stressed the research and scholarship associated with the bookbinding field. His references to Mirjam Foot and Howard Nixon and others gave humanity to a very technical and specialized field. What energy and enthusiasm! 4: Visiting Special Collections. It was great to see actual objects. 5: The lectures were entertaining and highly informative. It was a pleasure to attend them. The film on sewing was definitely an example of a picture being worth a thousand words -- it all suddenly became clear. 6: JSvL’s descriptions of the bindings and comparisons of different styles. The slides and examples in McGregor were very well presented. 7: The in-depth introduction to bookbinding techniques including the videos about sewing and marbling and the hands-on tooling exercise. 8: JSvL’s enthusiasm, the “real” examples, the slides, our “action,” i.e. tooling and rubbings. 9: Our teacher -- his enthusiasm, great knowledge, and warmth. He’s right up there with the best RBS teachers I’ve had. 10: As usual with RBS, the hands-on time is invaluable. JSvL’s enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge are equally important. 11: I was thrilled to find that after this five day whirlwind course I can now identify many important details in bindings which should help me to better identify and date bindings at my home institution. 12: The subject matter. JSvL was always knowledgeable and approachable with a good sense of humor. 13: JSvL’s enthusiasm and knowledge makes the course! The medieval bindings were quite wonderful to see, as well as his way of folding together many different countries and centuries of books.
6) How could the course have been improved?
1: Possibly not trying to cover quite so much material. 2: Simple outline of course. 3: A good balance of slides, showing materials and Web. I imagine Web “slides” will continue to grow in the future. 5: No improvement needed. 6: More time for questions. 7: Perhaps a syllabus that we could follow along would make it easier to follow the examples that by necessity tended to jump between countries and periods. 8: A bit more time could have been spent on describing bindings, not only at the beginning and at the end -- maybe a description as “homework.” 9: Can’t think of a way. 11: More time would have been great, but I’m not sure how. To cover 1,500 years of binding in five days is difficult and that we did so with only a few omissions is admirable. 12: Perhaps some exercises to reinforce the many technical terms we encountered. 13: Only if it were longer and the class could continue.
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?
1: None. Handling always appropriate. 2: Gloves? 3: All fine. 5: Better lighting for middle-aged eyes? 6: It was just right. 7: JSvL handled the books very delicately and was careful not to hand around fragile materials. 8: None. 9: Handling of all materials was fine. 11: I can’t think of any improvements. RBS materials were handled in class, but carefully and always monitored by JSvL. 12: No suggestions. 13: The materials were handled very professionally; no improvements necessary.
8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?
1: Yes. Both interesting, but Monday lecture was particularly fresh and lively. 2: Yes. 3: Yes, lecture on Monday most entertaining. I always enjoy the TB update. 4: Yes, they were. 5: N/A. 6: Yes. The lecture on Monday was such a blast. Where’d that guy learn to talk so fast? 7: Yes. 8: Yes, both were worth attending -- especially Monday’s lecture was lively and entertaining. 9: Yes. It’s always good to hear TB’s “State of RBS” address, and the Monday night lecture was very informative and entertaining. 10: Yes. 11: They were both excellent. I particularly enjoyed Leon Jackson’s Monday night lecture. 12: Yes, the lecture was interesting and the lecturer amusing and enthusiastic. 13: Absolutely. The lecture of TB’s was fun and the Rotunda lecture was enjoyable and in a beautiful place.
9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?
1: Definitely. A great opportunity to see a fascinating collection. 2-3: Yes. 5: Yes, very interesting. 6: Yes. Museum Night was the best I’ve ever attended. 7: Yes. 8: Yes, definitely -- I wish I had had more time to spend with RBS’s binding collection. The demonstrations were great. 9: Attended on Wednesday -- very profitable, especially the new microscope viewing gizmo, and the paper marbling video. The Jane Eyre display was great, too! 10: Very. 11: Yes, I enjoyed them both. It was a great opportunity to learn about other areas and subjects. 12: Yes, in particular the demonstration of Linotype. 13: Yes, especially TB’s lithography demonstration.
10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final thoughts?
1: RBS is the best, and I would recommend it to anyone. I’ll be back. 2: Yes, indeed! 3: Yes. I hope, someday, you will put some of the course material on your Web. I wish you a great success in branching out to Long Island/NYC and California! 4: I’d like to come back to take other courses. 5: Absolutely. This is an excellent introductory course. The instructor is charming and his enthusiasm for his field is contagious. 6: Yes, very much worth it. 7: Yes. A good introduction to several centuries of western binding. Recommended to anyone looking for a general introduction. 8: Yes, I certainly got my money’s worth. Do the reading before the course -- it is extremely helpful, although JSvL explains everything in detail and is happy to answer any questions. 9: Yes. This is one of the best RBS courses I’ve taken, and that’s saying something. Anyone interested in the history and styles of bookbinding should not miss this course. 10: Highly recommended. 11: Yes. 12: Absolutely. JSvL is a superb teacher. It’s hard covering so much in five days, but he makes every class an extremely rewarding and enjoyable experience. 13: More than any amount of money is the worth of this class. This class is a wonderful perspective and a terribly clever overview of the history of bookbinding. I suggest it to all!
Number of respondents: 13
Percentages
Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution Institution Institution Institution
gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel
77% 61% 62% 62%
I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own
tion time tion myself own housing travel
8% 31% 38% 38%
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
15% 8% 0% 0%
There were six rare book librarians (47%), two general librarians with no rare book duties (15%), two antiquarian booksellers (15%), two conservator/binder/preservation librarians (15%), and one archivist/manuscript librarian (8%).