24. Lithography in the Age of the Hand Press

17-21 July 1995

This course, which will explore a wide range of applications of lithography in Europe, is aimed at those who are concerned with books, prints, and ephemera especially of the first half of the c19. Topics include: Senefelder and the discovery of lithography; lithographic stones and presses; the work of the lithographic draftsman, letterer, and printer; early lithographed books and other printing; the development of particular genres, including music printing; chromolithography in the context of color printing.

1. How useful were the pre-course readings?

1: Didn't read. 2: Not enough time to read. The reading I did was excellent. You should try to get the lists out sooner. 3: A good reading list. I liked how MT included a syllabus of how he expected the content of the course to unfold, day by day, with relevant readings applicable for each section. 4: Very useful for vocabulary and technical points. 5: The readings seem to coincide very well with the course content and will be helpful in filling in a few blanks after I return home. (Things moved a little too fast here.) 6: Extremely. 7: I found them very useful; fortunately, I have access to a major university library and had no trouble obtaining them. Readings provided excellent preparation for the lectures. 8: The pre-course readings were very useful, though I only had the opportunity to read but a small fraction of the readings on the list. 9: Very useful.

2. Did your instructor prepare sufficiently to teach THIS course? Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class useful?

1: Yes. 2: Yes -- excellent. 3: Perfectly prepared. 4: Master. 5: The instructor is ``prepared'' well beyond the matter of the course. 6: Resounding yes on all counts. 7: Preparation was excellent; the pacing of presentations was also quite good. Appropriate stopping points were at hand when breaks were taken. 8: The course was extremely well prepared. MT knows his field well and relates his knowledge in an engaging manner. He has the right balance of factual and anecdotal/experiential knowledge and presents it all extremely well. 9: Much more than adequately.

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

1: Extremely so! 2: Absolutely. 3: Yes. 4: Right on the mark. 5: Yes. 6: Yes. Very accessible -- included a wide range from basic to sophisticated concepts. 7: Yes. When students did not understand key points or wanted them repeated, MT did so willingly and cheerfully. 8: Yes. I felt somewhat out of my league when lithographs were compared with other graphic processes, but MT was able to explain those processes clearly enough in just a few minutes to clarify the differences without derailing the course. 9: Yes.

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

1: Yes -- to print with wax, water, and ink. 7: N/A -- except for material from Special Collections which were brought into the classroom and available when needed.

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

1: Yes. I missed not having more natural history illustrations, but know I am now considerably better prepared to look at them on my own! 2: Yes. 3: Yes, and exceeded. My favorite of the three RBS courses I've taken to date. 4: Yes. 5: Yes. Yes. 6: Yes. 7: Yes; in fact, all the material promised in the brochure was covered on the first day of class -- no easy task! 8: Yes, more or less. The title, Lithography in the Age of the Hand Press, confused me because I thought of hand press referring to letterpress printing rather than hand litho presses. The time periods overlap but are not the same. 9: Yes.

6. What did you like best about the course?

1: MT, his dedication, erudition, and concentration. 2: The lecture/slide presentations were wonderful. Looking at objects was a necessary and very useful accompaniment. The class was relaxed and congenial. MT's knowledge and his willingness to share it freely. This is an overall good course. 3: MT's prodigious knowledge, and the fact that time spent in class was divided equally between lecture/slides and hands-on with materials. The arrangement of the content was logical, clear, and very easy to follow. 4: Usual combination of spoken ideas and hands-on experience. 5: Unique specimens, truly unavailable otherwise, laid out for a close examination not permitted in regular institutional collections. 6: The blend of graphic examples (slides and artifacts) with the brilliant lectures. Also liked the brief excursion in ``inventing'' lithography. 7: Having ample examples of lithographs of all sorts to examine closely. MT was always ready to pose a question and let the student find the answer. His enthusiasm for the subject is catching and his manner and good humor produced a relaxed and comfortable setting. Worth noting is MT's willingness to share with students rare items from his own collection. 8: MT. The class size of 10 made physical examination of items workable. Past classes which were larger proved unworkable in this regard. 9: The instructor did a fabulous job of matching his lectures with time to examine objects. During the class (and all of the time, really) he was extremely helpful and patient in leading each student to discover for him/herself the rich information held in the collection. Excellent!

7. How could the course have been improved?

1: Perhaps MT could get a fellowship to study and include more American materials. 2: I would hate it if there had been a prerequisite for this course because I wouldn't have been able to take it. A more general course on printmaking techniques and identification would definitely have been helpful. But MT's skilful guidance made my ignorance fairly unimportant. 3: I can't think of a single improvement. 4: No improvements needed: just keep it going. 5: Only by more of it. 6: Make a full-fledged lithograph or watch one through the process start to end. May be impractical, though it would be invaluable. 7: My preference would be for more hands-on work -- but I came knowing something about lithography in the c19. Perhaps more insistence that students do the reading before (hence less need to lecture). 8: I can think of no way: the course is excellent as it is.

8. Any final thoughts?

1: Perhaps I should have read more about technique. 2: If one person doesn't know much about printers, that one should really try to read the print identification book. 3: RBS is always a great pleasure. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with a week in residence here, and I feel very grateful to UVa, TB, and his staff for making it happen every year. Special applause for thetireless RBS photographer. 4: Reading the preliminary material so basics are understood will allow the course to proceed smoothly. This is an outstanding course, obviously monitored by the instructor to improve appreciation of the material considered. Just keep this course going and a cadre of American students will request for American lithography what MT has done for lithography in general. 5: A joy as well as an education. 6: MT's lithography course offers a masterful blend of time travel and scholarship, saturated with graphic examples of technical processes and cultural evidences. There is no fat at all in this course. MT's treatment of the subject is penetrating, insightful, impassioned, critical, and down to earth. 7: Keep class size as small as possible; ten or so is an excellent number. Everyone could sit around the table and there were enough materials for all to examine individually. As a first-time student, I found it a bit difficult -- at least at first -- to get to know people, since so many knew each other from previous years. How to overcome this, I do not know. 8: Cut out pastries in the morning. Have bagels and fruit, &c., or something healthier. The afternoon break should not include bagels. 9: I know that providing airport-campus transport would be a huge undertaking, but it would be an RBS student's (at least this RBS student's) dream. The $50-60 savings could make possible for some students to make larger gifts to the BAP. However, I felt warned about the cost of the transportation and, therefore, was not really bothered by it -- having a more specific map to the conference center (for first time RBSers) would help.

Number of respondents: 9

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