Tom Congalton and Katherine Reagan

G-30 Printed Books since 1800: Description & Analysis

7-11 June 2010

1. How useful were the pre-course readings? (Leave blank if you applied and were accepted late for the course, and thus did not get the list in time.)

1: Somewhat helpful, Carter is useful as reference, though not entirely helpful before course begins. Gaskell is often too technical for a beginner. 2: Very good. 3: Generally useful, good background material that helped demystify machine age terms. 4: Useful enough to give a basic background. 5: Very useful, I read all four books and purchased # 1902 Siggalt 23 Table Top Press, no kidding. 6: The readings were very good for background on the course. 7: The Gaskell book was tedious. 8: Very useful. 9: Since I had already done most of the course readings in a previous graduate seminar, I only had to review. I appreciate that the reading load was not too heavy and did not require too much out-of-pocket cost. 10: Good background. Carter is better as a reference book, but it is good to be familiar with the contents. Gaskell is a slog, but I found myself re-reading specific parts during the week after we'd discussed relevant topics in class.

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

1: Very much so—the chart of the historical development of printing processes and TC's many booklets were enormously helpful. I will be keeping them for future consultation. 2: Yes. They were appropriate and useful. 3: Absolutely. I expect to keep these materials close by when I catalog in future. 4: Yes, the pamphlets will be particularly useful in my future work. 5: Yes, I can use them in my profession. 6: Yes, the handouts will be very useful in the future. 7: Excellent handouts! 8: Yes! Thanks so much for the supplementary material! It was useful in class and likely to remain so after I'm home. 9: The color packets were extremely useful, and I will certainly be using them in the future. Thanks! All other handouts were very relevant as well. Will be making an RBS binder out of everything. 10: Materials distributed in class were fantastic, extremely useful, well conceived, and I know I will continue to refer to them in the future.

3. What aspects of the course content were of the greatest interest or relevance for your purposes? Was the intellectual level of the course appropriate?

1: I was most interested in the historical development of various printing/illustration technologies. 2: The intellectual level was appropriate. 3: Both KR and TC brought to this course their particular strengths, which encouraged me to look at books and bookselling afresh. 4: Learning of the booksellers' side of the business. 5: TC's workplace experience, KR's experience with library collections and hands-on experience with museum pieces. 6: Intellectual level appropriate. 7: Bibliographic jargon and its appropriate use. Intellectual level was right on target: facts, perspective and creativity blended well. 8: Yes—a good intro to illustration processes as well. 9: Lectures and discussion from the first three days centered primarily on the printed book and ephemera and were the most relevant. 10: The general overview approach to the course and having access to the perspectives of both a librarian/curator and a bookseller is a real plus for this course. The intellectual level seemed very appropriate to me.

4. What did you like best about the course?

1: Hands-on experience with type, stereotype plates and molds, various illustration processes, and so on. 3: The community of classmates. 4: The museums. 5: Hands-on experience with books. 6: I enjoyed the exercises and projects as I can use them in the future. Also, the museums were helpful to visualize information. 7: Informal atmosphere, approachability of speakers, speakers' knowledge. Combo of lecture and hands-on experiences in the "museum." 8: The viewpoints of a bookseller and librarian offered simultaneously—it was edifying (and frequently amusing) to observe their agreements, disagreements, and differing approaches. 9: Sections on illustration identification, bindings, and placing dust jackets in their historical period were the best parts of the course. I would have been interested in learning more about paper and ink from 1800−present. 10: The interspersed "museums" that provided a broad range of things we'd discussed during lectures were very helpful, and I really enjoyed and profited from the exercises, which are intelligently conceived, but loosely applied to allow students to mold to their individual interests.

5. Did the instructor(s) successfully help you to acquire the information and skills that the course was intended to convey?

1: Yes. 2-4: Yes. 5: Yes, very helpful. 6-7: Yes. 8: Yes—a good survey—not too broad, not too specialized. 9: On the whole, yes! 10: Yes, to a degree much greater than I had anticipated. Both instructors were extremely generous with their time and expertise, and both dealt patiently with a broad range of student questions.

6. Did you learn what the course description/advertisements indicated you would learn?

1-6: Yes. 7: Yes. Good, supportive critique by speakers. 8: Yes. 9: Would love a day of study that covers specific presses (mass market, fine/private presses, &c.) and their methods, aesthetics and marketing. 10: Yes.

7. Did you learn what you wanted to learn in the course?

1-6: Yes. 7: Yes. Nicely done, good reinforcement of learning. 8-10: Yes.

8. How do you intend to use or apply the knowledge or skills learned in this course?

1: The experience here at RBS has given me confidence to include a greater amount of bibliography and book history in the literature courses I teach as a grad student (and beyond). 2: I will apply what I have learned to my work as a librarian and rare book cataloguer. 3: To be a more conscientious cataloguer. 4: Read dealer descriptions much more carefully. 5: Book grading and descriptions with selling and cataloging. Identifications of books. 6: I plan to use information in describing books we still have uncatalogued and maybe for an exhibit. 7: In my book collecting hobby and as a volunteer at my local library. 9: Pedagogy and research. 10: To think more creatively about how to teach using rare books in ways that go beyond traditional show-and-tells.

9. How could the course have been improved? If you have a suggestion for a new course (and—equally important—a person who could teach it), please contact the RBS Program Director.

1: The best moments were hands on. A little more time reviewing the hard-press period, book formats, &c. might have been helpful. When discussing book condition (good, fine, &c.) examples might have been nice. 3: I don't know. 4: Perhaps include other genres in addition to the literary. 5: I'm not sure you could improve it except by having two courses for two weeks. 6: The course was great; maybe show more examples on screen. 7: TC's handouts were great. If I had them while reading the course text, it would have made understanding Gaskell easier. And, please obtain the appropriate technology to display text illustration to the whole group. 8: I would have liked to hear the opinions of a new bookseller in addition to the established booksellers in our panel discussion. "How Bookselling Used To Be" is interesting to me, but not useful. I'd prefer to know how booksellers are adapting, or new methods they're trying. 9: Less contemporary bookselling information and more detailed study of presses, physical texts, and marketing-in-context (ex: how c19 book jackets influenced trade, readership, production, &c.). 10: I can't really think of any ways I'd suggest improving it—the scope and pace seemed spot on to me.

10. If your course left its classroom to visit Special Collections (SC) or to make other field trips away from your classroom, was the time devoted to this purpose well spent?

1-5: Yes. 6: Yes, really enjoyed hearing from the booksellers. 7: Yes. Barbara/staff were very helpful. 8: Yes! 9: Yes! Loved visiting lower Tibet. Barbara's lecture was also a highlight. 10: Yes.

11. 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?

1-2: None. 3: None I am aware of. 4: No suggestions—we were told at the beginning what the handling procedures were and we all followed them. 6: The books were handled well by everyone. 7: The light microscopes (most) didn't work. Replacements are needed. 8: None. Instructions were clear, and respected. 9: All materials were handled with care and respect. Really appreciated hands-on-examples during KR's demos! 10: None.

12. If you attended the optional evening events (e.g. RBS Lecture, Video Night, RBS Forum, Booksellers' Night) were they worth attending?

1: RBS lecture was phenomenal as was Forum on Google Books (if more like a talk and less like a forum). 2: I attended; they were good. 3-4: Yes. 5: I attended all of them, they were informative and with great speakers! Movie was good. 6: Attended RBS lecture, forums, and Bookseller Night and all were worth attending. 7: Yes. 8: Yes—except for "You've Got Mail." 9: N/A. 10: Yes, I especially thought the Forum was a creative and promising innovation that can be shaped in a lot of interesting ways.

13. Did you get your (or your institution's) money's worth? Any final or summary thoughts, or advice for other persons considering taking this course in a future year?

2: I definitely feel I got my money's worth. I would recommend Rare Book School to people. 3: Yes—take this course, you won't regret it. 4: Recommend less experience in the field. This class is ideally suited to someone new to the discipline or new to the job. 5: Great class—will come again. 6: I got my money's worth. It is a good price for all that you learn. 7: Yes. I will seriously consider taking another RBS course. Thanks!! 8: Yes. 9: Yes. Well worth it! RBS was fantastic. 10: Yes. My only advice to future students is that some things in this course will make greater sense if you've taken the pre-1800 course first.

Number of respondents: 10

PERCENTAGES

Leave

Institution gave me leave

40 %

I took vacation time

10 %

N/A: self-employed, retired or had the summers off

50 %

Tuition

Institution paid tuition

40 %

I paid tuition myself

20 %

N/A: Self-employed, retired or scholarship

40 %

Housing

Institution paid housing

40 %

I paid for my own housing

40 %

N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home

40 %

Travel

Institution paid travel

40 %

I paid my own travel

40 %

N/A: lived nearby

20 %

There was 1 rare book librarians (10%), 1 archivist/manuscript librarian (10%), 1 general librarian with some rare book duties (10%), 1 teacher/professor (10%), 3 full-time students (30%), and 3 antiquarian booksellers (30%).