Jan Storm van Leeuwen

Introduction to the History of Bookbinding

14-18 July 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: Needham book earns two checks, almost too much detail. Lock, Materials and Techniques earns two checks. Foot is a good general overview. Pickwoad is interesting. Some other materials seemed detailed/repetitive—perhaps not as useful without hands on examples/more basic introduction. 2: I should have spent more time with them. Some were very difficult to locate. 3: Very applicable, good and helpful sources. 4: Very useful. Though not directly addressed in class, they provided a foundation. They were reinforced in class as well. 5: Pre-course readings were helpful and well-chosen to give a good general grasp of the subject. 6: Useful, but hard to find. I thought Needham, Pearson, and Cockerell were the most helpful for background information. 8: Very helpful. 9: Good. 10: I did not have access to most readings in my institution or nearby ones. I ordered one book from Amazon, and it was very helpful. 11: Very useful. I had to read some of the materials twice, since the information was difficult to remember.

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: We really didn't even touch the workbook in class—it only contains supplementary materials I'll look at at home. Might have included "test" answers/details in workbook so we didn't have to leave it incomplete on Friday afternoon! 2: Yes and yes. I always find myself referring books back the years to my class materials. 3: Yes—I will use it as a handy reference at my office/library. 4: Yes. Just fine. I'm looking forward to getting into the extensive bibliography in the course pack. 5: Course syllabus is very detailed, a reference work in its own right. 6: Yes, but I wish the margins in the course packet were a little wider so there was more space for annotation. 7: Excellent guide which I will use. 8: Appropriate. 9: Absolutely. The amount of material in class was far too expansive to rely only on my copious notes. 10: Yes, very helpful to reinforce huge volumes of information received in class. 11: The materials handed in class were useful. They are short, but very dense.

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: c15 and c16 bindings of most interest; emphasis on historical context very useful. Identification and description was quite relevant—some additional practice would have been great—see 7 below. Level absolutely appropriate. 2: The basic "mechanical" aspects about [sic], materials will probably of more use to me than the art history aspect. 3: Slideshow/PowerPoint was helpful in getting the overview and historical perspective. Seeing the materials helped to follow up with the real thing. Yes—intellectual level was perfect—fascinating and scholarly, but not dry. 4: The earlier bindings were more relevant and interesting as I don't have as much access to them. 5: Learning to date and localize bindings was most relevant to me. 6: I found the whole course relevant, although I am particularly interested in eighteenth and nineteenth century bindings. 7: Historical context, explanation of styles, very thorough coverage. 8: Evolution of methods and styles. 9: Dating bindings from different centuries. Yes. 10: Intellectual level was perfect. JSvL was very careful to tailor materials and commentary to our individual interests. 11: The intellectual level was extremely high. The ability to view most of the books in tandem with a very organized slide presentation was very effective.

4. What did you like best about the course?

1: Hands-on contact with materials in RBS collections—Monday a.m. session on Mame chocolate boxes through Friday afternoon sessions on decorated paper and bindings from all over—JSvL's preparedness, openness to questions, and interesting stories. 2: The instructor. His passion, kindness, and enthusiasm were infectious. 3: The instructor—clearly knowledgeable, also entertaining and friendly and approachable. And the visit to SC. 4: Getting to see so many wonderful bindings. 5: JSvL is a gifted teacher, exuberant about his subject. He and Vince Golden have acquired for RBS a great collection of material to demonstrate first-hand bookbinding history. 6: JSvL's encyclopedic knowledge and great enthusiasm was wonderful! 7: Enthusiasm and knowledge of the instruction. 8: Content. 9: The ability to see items firsthand, and, in some cases, to handle them. 10: First day and last day: being challenged to look at books and come up with our own observations, at beginning and end of course. And of course JSvL's incredible knowledge—it was a truly virtuoso performance—a delight to see a leading scholar doing what he does best—for six hours a day! And of course JSvL's personality was really the best part. He was able to convey the humanity and artistry that lie behind a potentially dry subject. 11: JSvL. JSvL is truly exceptional. I have never in my life had a course taught by someone so knowledgeable in a field. His most outstanding characteristic is his passion to communicate to his students what he knows in the field.

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

1: Yes—sometimes almost overwhelming amounts of information. Re: skills, see 7 below. JSvL's PowerPoint presentations—very useful/detail, but hard to absorb/retain information without images to refer to in future. 2: Generally yes. I would probably have benefitted by more basic information but the expansive overview (even though I will not remember details) put things in context. 3: Yes—he provided numerous examples to support the information/lectures. 4: He set me on this path. Excellent instruction. 5-8: Yes. 9: I feel as though I have been given many ideas about how to acquire knowledge about individual bindings. 10: Absolutely. 11: Yes. He reinforced what he taught by carefully pointing out to us useful reference sources.

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

1-3: Yes. 4: Yes. The course was as I expected ... only better! 5-11: Yes.

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

1: Yes. Would have liked more one-on-one time with one or two books to do a full binding rubbing/description—to really test skills—even as simple as distinguishing between calf/sheep/goat. That said, Friday identification/descriptions session (2-4 p.m.) was great—a real test of how much we'd already learned—very rewarding! 2-3: Yes. 4: Yes. Unfortunately, I also learned that I have much more work to do. The field is quite complex and I am just at the beginning. 5-11: Yes.

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

1: I was looking for basic ability to identify leather/paper/cloth (materials) and technique—I don't work with bindings in my day-to-day research, but what I've learned will come in use in my library and RBS work (useful context on the materials I have). 2: I will never look at my collection in the same way. I am quite sure I will now see things I never noticed. I will make better decisions about curating the collection. 3: I intend to return to my library, look at the collections with my new knowledge, and apply what I know. I also plan to do some presentations to library staff to share my new knowledge about bindings. 4: As an antiquarian bookseller, I must know as much as I can to make smart purchases, describe books well to be able to know I am selling what I'm advertising. 5: To date and evaluate bindings offered for sale. 6: I hope to study the bindings in my library's collection. 7: To analyze books in my library and explain to others. 8: Share with others. 9: To be able to more intelligently discuss treatments with curators. 10: I have a very specific research project that uses binding information: I feel much more comfortable pursuing that project now—JSvL was very generous with his time and expertise. 11: I will use what I learned in class to point out the importance of bindings to patrons in my department. It will also help me to being exploring my own collection.

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: Show-and-tell sessions in Lower Tibet needed more time to actually handle the materials/reinforce the concepts and information being relayed. Maybe add small labels to the materials to jog our memories when we see the materials up closer? 2: I feel I would have benefitted by more review and "testing" along the way. 3: No idea—excellent as is. 4: Logistically problematic, but seeing the bindings while learning about them would be helpful, but might also make it more difficult to learn as much material. 5: More time for students to evaluate and date bindings, with time for JSvL to respond. There was no specific discussion of English Art and Crafts bindings (though the topic was mentioned generally). 6: I can't think of any way to improve it. It was fantastic. 8: More time. 9: I would have liked an opportunity to work with other participants on a timeline based on our notes. Perhaps as homework? 11: Include pictures of all the slides discussed in class. At the very least, this would allow for better and more effective note-taking.

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: Yes! Three sessions in SC was a bonanza—very useful for reinforcement of concepts! 2: Yes. Super! 3: Yes—very revealing and exciting. 4: Oh yes! One of the highlights. 5: Yes, very important to see binding examples in SC. 6: Yes. 7: Yes, very. 8: Yes. 9: Absolutely! 10: Absolutely—very exciting to see such beautiful specimens, especially after learning a bit about what to look for. 11: 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: Mid-week reminder to keep pens off the table if materials are being passed around. Baskets for paper handling = great idea! 2: Seems like a good balance to me. 4: It seemed to me appropriate precautions were taken. 7: Much care was taken. 9: None. 10: No suggestions—it was fantastic to have such a great teaching collection—especially ones we could really look at thoroughly ourselves. 11: Students were not allowed to handle the books. No improvement to "handling" can be suggested.

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

1: DVM lecture very thought-provoking—might have been a good forum topic. 2: The lectures were OK. I really enjoyed the binding video. No interest in the Booksellers' Night. 3: Yes—film was very educational—about bookbinding. 4: Yes! Both lectures were quite insightful. The Q&A was very good as well. 6: Yes, I attended everything and found it all worthwhile. 7: Yes. 9: Yes. It would have been nice to see both films that ran concurrently. 10: I attended a video on bookbinding, it was fantastic. Would like to have copies of video available for sale! Shame it was double-booked with paper video. I was too exhausted to attend other events. 11: The lectures and movies were relevant and entertaining. I would recommend splitting the two movies on different nights.

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?

1: Yes! The avalanche of details may not stay in my head, but I tried to take good notes. You should do so too! Bring a fat notebook! Advice to those new to binding: read Lock's book first or get hold of another basic terminology work (ABC of Bookbinding) so that you have the right language in your head—and a sense that you're somewhat oriented in the universe of binding jargon—before going on to read Needham/Nixon &c. which are advanced, detail-heavy books. 2: Yes. I would make sure folks know the emphasis is on luxury binding. 3: Yes. 4: Well worth the money! Keep bringing JSvL back! 5: In all a very educational and enjoyable week. I hope to return soon. 6: Yes, I think so. No other advice, other than "Do it! This course is amazing!" 7: Yes! 8-9: Yes. 10: Yes! Long live JSvL! 11: This is truly a marvelous opportunity and I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to attend.

Number of respondents: 11

PERCENTAGES

Leave

Institution gave me leave

64%

I took vacation time

9%

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

27%

Tuition

Institution paid tuition

46%

I paid tuition myself

27%

N/A: Self-employed, retired or scholarship

27%

Housing

Institution paid housing

46%

I paid for my own housing

36%

N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home

18%

Travel

Institution paid travel

45%

I paid my own travel

45%

N/A: lived nearby

10%

Out of 10 respondents (one did not answer occupation), there were two were book librarians (20%), two general librarians with some rare book duties (20%), one professor (10%), one full-time student (10%), two antiquarian booksellers (20%), one conservator (10%), and one retired respondent (10%).