Rare Book School

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The October 2013 application is now available. Please visit our Application & Admissions page to get started. Applicants will receive an email confirmation upon submission. If you do not receive an email, contact rbs_programs@virginia.edu.

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Students Get Up Close and Personal with Rare Books
by Sandy Hausman

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Preserving Pages in Charlottesville
by Jacki Lyden

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Rare Book School (RBS) provides continuing-education opportunities for students from all disciplines and levels to study the history of written, printed, and born-digital materials with leading scholars and professionals in the field. Founded in 1983, RBS moved to its present home at the University of Virginia in 1992.

RBS News Feed

Registration Open for Global Digital Libraries Symposium

[9 October 2013] Rare Book School, the Scholars' Lab, and the Buckner W. Clay Endowment for the Humanities at the Institute of the Humanities & Global Culture are pleased to announce a three-day symposium, Global Digital Libraries, to be held in Charlottesville from 30 October through 1 November.

Symposium participants include Will Noel, Director of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dot Porter, Curator of Digital Research Services in the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Michael F. Suarez, S.J., Director of Rare Book School, will moderate.

The symposium will include:

  • a lunch and round-table discussion moderated by Will Noel and Michael Suarez.
  • an evening keynote address by Will Noel, "Global Digital Libraries: Some Principles and an Idea."
  • an afternoon workshop led by Will Noel and Dot Porter, "Disbinding All the Books in the World."

See the Global Digital Libraries symposium page for the full schedule, presenter bios, and registration procedures. The lunch discussion and afternoon workshop are limited to 24 participants, and registrations will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

RBS Receives Grant for Additional Scholarships

[25 September 2013] We are delighted to announce that Rare Book School has received a grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to fund additional Directors' Scholarship awards for the 2013 scholarship cycle. These scholarships are directed toward the continuing education of special collections librarians, and will be awarded to:

  • students who wish to pursue a career in special collections librarianship and are currently enrolled in a library or information science program
  • individuals who currently work in a library and who wish to pursue a career in special collections librarianship
  • individuals who are in the early stages of their careers in special collections librarianship

Beneficiaries of this scholarship will receive full tuition to an RBS course taken during the 2014 calendar year.

To apply, please submit an RBS scholarship application by the 15 October deadline. See the Scholarships page for full details on all RBS scholarships.

Jeremy Dibbell Joins RBS Staff as Director of Communications and Outreach

[20 September 2013] On 1 September, the RBS staff welcomed Jeremy Dibbell as the School's first Director of Communications and Outreach.

Jeremy was awarded a Directors' Scholarship in 2009, and attended RBS in 2010 as the William Reese Fellow. He has worked on the School's summer staff annually since then. In his new position, Jeremy will be focusing on website communications, publicity, advertising, and additional outreach programs for the School. He will also be assisting Program Director Amanda Nelsen with scholarships and other programs-related planning. Full Story.

Tess Goodman Appointed RBS Assistant Curator

[20 September 2013] We are pleased to announce that Theresa "Tess" Goodman has received a one-year appointment as Assistant Curator of Collections at Rare Book School. Tess first joined the RBS staff as a part-time collections assistant in 2006, and has worked for the School regularly since then. As our full-time, year-round assistant curator, Tess will have new duties, including the purchase and management of items for RBS's teaching collections. She will also assist with promoting special projects, such as the RBS-UVA Fellowship Program. Read more here.

Now Accepting Applications for RBS 2013 Scholarships

[4 September 2013] Please check the Rare Book School Scholarships page for the newly updated application form for the 2013 scholarship cycle. The application deadline for 2013 is October 15.

RBS Faculty Member Will Noel Receives Award from White House

[28 June 2013] RBS faculty member Will Noel was among 13 scholars and scientists honored at the White House Open Science Champions of Change event on June 20. Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at The University of Pennsylvania, Noel is an advocate for the creation of open data by museums and rare book repositories. Read more...

RBS Faculty Instrumental in Law Books Acquisition at Yale University

[20 June 2013] Yale University has recently acquired the law books collection of Anthony Taussig, adding to their already substantive collections in legal history. Mike Widener, who this year taught RBS course C-85: Law Books: History & Connoisseurship onsite at the Lillian Goldman Law Library, was instrumental to the acquisition. For more details, see the article in the New York Times.

RBS Announces Named Spaces

[9 June 2013] Rare Book School is pleased to announce the naming of two seminar rooms in RBS’s new space in Alderman Library. Read more here.

RBS Awards $8,250 in Prizes to UVA Students for "Why Books Matter" Competition

[15 April 2013] Rare Book School is pleased to announce the winners of the "Why Books Matter" University-wide competition. The competition, which was sponsored by The Jefferson Trust (an initiative of the UVA Alumni Association), asked UVA students to explore the changing nature of textual media, and to envision new approaches to engaging with books as physical objects. The competition celebrates Rare Book School’s twentieth anniversary on Grounds and is meant to promote research and design related to the book, broadly conceived—that is, any recorded text, including manuscript, printed, and digital media. Its substantial prizes, ranging from $500 to $1,500, recognize UVA’s ongoing commitment to innovative research and design relating to books.

Rare Book School will be hosting an awards ceremony and reception at noon on Friday, April 19 in Alderman 421, and will exhibit these student projects through 5 p.m. on the same day. RBS invites UVA students, faculty, and staff,  as well as members from the local community, to attend the event, and to congratulate these students on their accomplishments. See the winners here...

Deadline Extended for Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship

[2 April 2013] The deadline for the Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship has been extended to Monday, 8 April at 5:00 p.m. The scholarship is available to all antiquarian booksellers interested in taking Joel Silver’s course, Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books (L-25), taking place 22–26 July. Preference will be given to individuals in the early stages of their careers and to those who would not otherwise be able to attend RBS without scholarship assistance.

Now Accepting Applications for October Courses

[26 March 2013] The applications for our two October courses in Washington, D.C., are now available on the myRBS application system. Both are new courses taught by veteran RBS faculty. Advanced Rare Book Cataloging (L-35), taught by Deborah J. Leslie, will be held at the Folger Shakespeare Library; Hokusai & Book Illustration (I-95), taught by Ellis Tinios, will be held at the Freer/Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution.

RBS Faculty Member Joel Silver Appointed Director of Indiana University's Lilly Library

[20 March 2013] Dean of Indiana University Libraries Brenda Johnson recently announced the appointment of Joel Silver as Director of the Lilly Library, the university's celebrated rare books and manuscripts library. Silver was previously Associate Director and Curator of Books at the Lilly. He began teaching at RBS in the summer of 2012 with his course Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books (L-25), which will be offered again this summer in late July. Read the full IU News Room article here.

RBS Assistant Director & Curator of Collections Barbara Heritage Wins Charlottesville "4 Under 40" Award

[15 March 2013] Rare Book School Assistant Director & Curator of Collections Barbara Heritage was recently selected to receive one of Charlottesville Woman's "4 Under 40" awards, an annual prize given by the Charlottesville Daily Progress, honoring local women who make an impact on the community by balancing work, family, and activism. Read more in the CW article (PDF).

RBS-Mellon Fellowships Awarded

[8 March 2013] RBS is pleased to announce that the selection process for the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography is now complete: 20 RBS-Mellon Fellows have been chosen from a pool of 250 applicants. The aim of the fellowship program is to reinvigorate bibliographical studies within the humanities by introducing doctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty to specialized skills, methods, and professional networks for conducting advanced research with material texts. View press release

Still Accepting Applications for Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship

[5 March 2013] The Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship is a full-tuition scholarship opportunity that is available to all antiquarian booksellers interested in taking Joel Silver’s course, Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books (L-25), at RBS in Charlottesville, Virginia. One Tavistock Scholarship will be awarded in 2013. Preference will be given to individuals in the early stages of their careers and to those who would not otherwise be able to attend RBS without scholarship assistance.

To apply for the Tavistock scholarship, please submit a 2013 summer application to RBS no later than 1 April 2013. In a cover letter, discuss your reasons for applying for the scholarship to attend "Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books"; please include a brief description of your work in the antiquarian book trade, financial needs, and other relevant information. While not required, a recommendation letter from an ABAA member to accompany the application would be beneficial. Scholarship applicants will be notified of decisions by 30 April 2013.

RBS Now Accepting Submissions for "Why Books Matter" Competition

[31 January 2013] “Why Books Matter” is a University-wide competition open to all UVA students who wish to explore the changing nature of textual media, and who envision new approaches to engaging with books as physical objects. The competition celebrates Rare Book School’s twentieth anniversary on Grounds, and is meant to promote research and design related to the book, broadly conceived—that is, any recorded text, including manuscript, printed, and digital media. Its substantial prizes—ranging from $500 to $1,500—are meant to recognize UVA’s ongoing commitment to innovative research and design relating to books.

Students may submit projects in one of three categories: Essays; Fine Arts; and Science, Technology & Entrepreneurship. The deadline for submissions has been extended to 15 March 2013. The submission form, along with competition details, is now available on our "Why Books Matter" page.

Exhibition Tours for "Turning the Page: Technology & Innovation in Nineteenth-Century Books"

[30 January 2013] RBS is pleased to announce the gallery tours of the exhibition "Turning the Page: Technology & Innovation in c19 Books," from 10 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 30, February 13, and February 27. Gallery tours will last approximately 15 to 20 minutes and are open to the public.

"Turning the Page" is an exhibition that explores the relationship between new technologies and the rise of modern mass media in the nineteenth century. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, books were still manufactured using many of the same craft skills and techniques used since the introduction of moveable type in the fifteenth century. By the end of the 1800s, the book had changed from a largely handmade object to a mass-produced industrial product. This exhibition showcases the technological innovations that helped to transform book manufacture. Highlighted in each case are advances in papermaking, printing, binding, and illustration processes, all of which contributed to a century-long quest to make books more quickly, more cheaply, and in greater numbers than ever before.

This exhibition has been made possible by Rare Book School and The Jefferson Trust, an initiative of the UVA Alumni Association, as part of the “Why Books Matter” Exhibition Series, celebrating Rare Book School’s twentieth anniversary on Grounds.

For more information about the exhibition, please contact the exhibition's curator, Elizabeth Ott, at elo2be@virginia.edu.

RBS Launches Its New Online Application System

[22 January 2013] RBS is pleased to announce myRBS, a new customized web application developed for every member of the RBS community. Through myRBS, you will be able to apply for a course, gain access to and edit your contact information, view your course history and Friend status, and more! More details here...

2012 Scholarship Awards Announced

[19 December 2012] Rare Book School is pleased to announce the winners of its 2012 Scholarship Committee awards. Congratulations to all! See the list of winners here...

RBS Announces Its 2013 Course Schedule

[31 October 2012] RBS is excited to announce its course schedule for 2013, a double-anniversary—30 years in operation and 20 years at the University of Virginia! This year's schedule includes some major expansions, featuring the addition of several new courses and new host venues, including Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania. See the full schedule here.

Julia Miller to Give Clay Lecture and Seminar on 24 and 25 October

[11 October 2012] RBS is pleased to announce its upcoming Clay lecture and seminar, to be delivered by Julia Miller, book conservator and independent scholar, on Wednesday, 24 October and Thursday, 25 October. Both events are free and open to the public, although space in the seminar is limited. More details here...

New Mellon Fellowship Program at Rare Book School

[1 October 2012] Rare Book School has been awarded a grant in the amount of $896,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a new fellowship program, the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography. The aim of the program is to reinvigorate bibliographical studies within the humanities by introducing doctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty to specialized skills, methods, and professional networks for conducting advanced research with material texts. Fellows will receive funding for RBS course attendance, as well as generous stipends, and support for research-related travel to special collections, over the course of three years. The deadline for application to the program is December 1, 2012. Interested scholars are encouraged to apply as soon as possible; see the RBS-Mellon Fellowship page for more details. View press release.

Other Community News

Bookbinding Conference Hosted by the Folger Shakespeare Library

[5 July 2013] In August, the Folger Shakespeare Library will be hosting "New Bownde: New Scholarship in Early Modern Binding"—a two-day, international conference to explore new tools for the study of English and Continental bookbinding and to share new scholarship in the materiality of the book. Fifteen scholars from seven countries will present papers on different aspects of bookbindings, and four international experts will conduct workshops exploring new tools and instruments for the study of early modern bindings. The conference takes place 15–16 August, and will be preceded by a free-of-charge workshop on Wednesday, 14 August about "digital rubbings" of early modern bookbindings. See the conference announcement and schedule here (PDF).

2013/14 Yale Law Library Rare Book Fellowship

[8 October 2013] The Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School is pleased to announce a Rare Book Fellowship to train the next generation of rare book librarians. We encourage applications from recent graduates and from those who are about to finish a degree in library science...Full Story

FABS Announces Essay Competition

[18 September 2012] The Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS) announces "American Book Collectors & Collecting from 1940 to the Present," an essay competition with a $1000 award for an original essay of 3000 to 4000 words by a writer aged 30 years or younger...Full Story

Call for Papers: 21st Annual SHARP Conference in Philadelphia

[16 September 2012] The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) invites submissions for its 21st annual conference, to be held in Philadelphia from July 18-21, 2013. The program will take place primarily on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania...Full Story