12 : Book Illustration Processes to 1890 [I-20]
5-9 January 2004
1) How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Essential reading, although Gascoigne should be supplemented by a book on processes. 2: Extremely so. 3: Very useful, though much more meaningful after having had the course. 4: Gascoigne is essential reading. If not read before the first class, one is likely to be lost. 5: Very useful! 6: Gascoigne’s book was excellent for this course. 7: Vital to understanding the course content. 8: How to Identify Prints was essential and well written. Linda Holts’s Print in the Western World was good, but not especially helpful. Perhaps William Ivins’s, How Prints Look, might make better supplementary material for Gascoigne. 9: Gasgoigne’s book was excellent pre-course study, but perhaps very technical for first-time readers. Now my re-reading of it will be easier and reinforce what I have learned. Perhaps Tempting the Palette should be a “quick and dirty” primer with Gascoigne to follow. In that way, information will come from two sources, one reinforcing the other.
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, valuable reference, especially the exit reading list. 2: Yes. 3: Yes, definitely! The course packet is full of useful tools–especially the time chart. 4: Yes. The course workbook will be useful for the rest of my career. 5: Yes. 6: The class workbook, including its bibliography, will be very useful in the future. It was helpful during class to have each print’s description as well. 7: Yes. 8: Yes. The chronological arrangement of printing processes was very helpful in ordering the mass of information given in Gascoigne. The labs were very entertaining. 9: Yes.
3) Was the intellectual level of the course content appropriate?
1: Yes, especially stimulating. 2-3: Yes. 4: Absolutely. 5-6: Yes. 7: Yes. Challenging and well-paced with enough time for questions. 8: Highly sophisticated. The course was a lively dialogue between students and instructor. 9: Yes.
5) What did you like best about the course?
1: Hands-on examination of print materials and artifacts. 2: Small class size; enjoyed the group aspect of it and the hands-on approach. 3: Getting to see so many examples of the various processes; getting to do some of the processes; TB’s stories. 4: The constant and intense engagement with original prints. It is impossible to learn this material without hands-on experience. Making prints was highly instructive in leading to an understanding of certain processes, and thus an ability to identify them. 5: Seeing all the prints. 6: Viewing actual examples of the print process we discussed. 7: The intensity of the learning process. I learned so much in such a short time, and know that I now have a structure to my knowledge about prints that won’t fade any time soon! 8: The illustration packets are immensely useful in illustrating the information in Gascoigne. The class is taught from example–which is its great virtue–not from lecture notes. 9: The actual examination of prints, discussion thereof, and comparison to Gascoigne. This is the meat of the course. Secondly, the labs were a nice break, so that our eyeballs didn’t fall out. The labs gave us an appreciation for the work of the artist as well as insight into the results we were examining.
6) How could the course have been improved?
1: More pre-reading/pre-work on processes in addition to Gascoigne. 2: Excellent course. 3: Cannot think of any way. But like some wines--I am sure it improves with age--TB’s, that is. 4: Since it can’t be made longer, I don’t think it can be improved. 5: More space at the table. 6: I don’t see how the course could be any better. 7: With the addition of a master chart indicating all clues to identification for all processes covered. (Perhaps a blank chart that we could fill in by ourselves, day by day.) 9: Our limited time was used as efficiently and as practically as I can recommend.
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: No suggestions. 2-3: None. 4: None. Handling is absolutely necessary, and it was well supervised. The TA seemed to be essential in this regard, especially for expedience. 5: None. 6: Need a larger room and tables for easier handling of the materials. 7: I found the organization and storage of materials to be excellent, and students handled prints with respect.
8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?
1: Yes. 2: N/A. 3: Monday, yes, though I had heard much of this before. However, when a speaker cancels, TB does a great job of filling in. 4: Yes. Excellent opportunity to meet other students. 5-6: Yes. 7: Too busy with TA duties, unfortunately. (Not that I regret TA duties!!) 9: Yes.
9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?
1: Yes–especially enjoyed these to go beyond the immediate course on illustration. 2: N/A. 3: Yes, would like to attend Museum Nights more. 4: Yes. Almost like an additional free RBS class! 5: Very. 6: Yes. 7: Ditto. [Too busy with TA duties, unfortunately.] 8: Yes, indeed. The Thursday night Printing Surfaces Museum is an excellent complement to the course. 9: Yes.
10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final thoughts?
1: Yes. 2: Absolutely. 3: Yes, got my money’s worth. I think it is a “must take” course for any RBS student. 4: I prefer to think that my institution is getting its money’s worth in sending me. 5: Excellent course. 6: Yes. 7: Yes, a unique environment educationally and collegially. Course was masterfully taught. I don’t want to go home!! 9: I was very well pleased with RBS.
Number of respondents: 9
Percentages
Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution Institution Institution Institution
gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel
45% 22% 33% 33%
I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own
tion time tion myself own housing travel
22% 33% 33% 45%
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
33% 45% 34% 22%
There were two rare book librarians (23%), one archivist/manuscript librarian (11%), one general librarian with some rare book duties (11%), one full-time student (11%), one antiquarian bookseller (11%), one student at RBS in the role as book-collector (11%), one print collector (11%), and one digital services librarian (11%).