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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] 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.

Jeremy holds a B.A. in political science from Union College, where he was graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He is a 2008 graduate of the History/Archives Management M.A./M.L.S. program at Simmons College, and comes to Rare Book School from LibraryThing, where he was Librarian for Social Media and Rare Books. Prior to LibraryThing, Jeremy worked as Assistant Reference Librarian at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and while in Boston he also worked for several years at Commonwealth Books. Jeremy writes a regular column on book auctions for Fine Books & Collections, as well as a popular rare books blog, PhiloBiblos.

When not busy at RBS, Jeremy is at work on a history of books and printing in Bermuda, and he oversees the Libraries of Early America project, an effort to aggregate data on personal libraries in America through 1800.

Welcome, Jeremy!

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.

Tess was a University of Virginia Echols Scholar, and received her B.A. in English and French, graduating with high distinction in 2012. This spring she completed an M.A. in English, also from UVA. Tess is the curator of the current Rare Book School exhibition, "Books that Take Us Lands Away: Tourism and Print Culture in the Nineteenth Century," on display in the Stettinius Gallery of Alderman Library through February 2014.

Tess has already made a number of substantial contributions to Rare Book School as a part-time staff member, and we all look forward to working with her over the next year as a member of the School's full-time staff.

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. He directed the Archimedes Palimpsest Project, an international collaboration to conserve, image and study the erased texts lying beneath a thirteenth-century prayer book. He also pioneered the presentation of machine-readable, openly licensed datasets of digitized illuminated medieval manuscripts at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

NEH press release
White House press release

Yale University Acquires Important Collection of Law Books

[20 June 2013] Yale University has recently acquired the law books collection of Anthony Taussig, adding to their already substantive collections in legal history. Michael 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.

[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!

With this launch of myRBS, Rare Book School is now accepting summer course applications. To apply for a course, you will need to create a new myRBS account.

If you have applied for or taken an RBS course in the past, applied for a scholarship, or donated to RBS, please indicate this on the registration page so that we can link your new myRBS account to existing records.

More details can be found on our Application & Admissions page.

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!

Directors' Scholarship Fund:

Barbara Bieck	Brian McDonald
Sarah Bull	Christopher Ohge
Julie Christenson	Kate Phillips
Alison Clemens	Jessica Plummer
Sarah Dauterive	Jennifer Robertson
Erin Fletcher	Sal Robinson
Virginia Gilmartin	Molly Schwartz
Mary Haegert	Michelle Sellars
Erika Kihlman	Amy Sopcak-Joseph
Abby Lang	Alice Tsay
Mary-Margaret Mahoney

ASECS Scholarship: Zachary Hutchins

Atlas Systems Scholarship: David Fernandez

BSA-RBS Scholarship: Jennifer Newman

James Davis Scholarship: Alena McNamara

SHARP-RBS Scholarship:

Emily Monty	Jessica Rogers
Jonathan Olson	Jonathan Thayer

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.

Julia Miller
Book Conservator & Independent Scholar

Standing in the Shadow [of the Text]:
The Value of Studying Historical Bindings

Wednesday, 24 October 2012
5:30–6:30 p.m.
The Auditorium of the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture and the Albert and Shirley Small
Special Collections Library

The lecture will describe the importance of studying original bindings and how that study has progressed over time. The text contained in a book is of first importance; the binding is constructed to connect and protect it. United they present an idea in time and allow us to see, read, and handle our written history clothed in its original garment. Separated, the cover and text are each deprived of much of their vitality. The lecture will conclude with suggestions for multi-discipline involvement in projects to identify and describe historical bindings. The PowerPoint presentation will be supported by examples of historical bindings, some available for handling.

The lecture will be followed by a reception in 112 Alderman Library.

 

Mysteries Abound: Observing and Interpreting the Physical Elements of Historical Bindings
A seminar taught by Julia Miller
Thursday, 25 October 2012; 3:30–5:00 p.m.
The Byrd/Morris Seminar Rooms of the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American
History, Literature, and Culture and the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Hand-bound books come in all shapes and sizes and degrees of physical complexity. This seminar will introduce participants to a variety of physical elements found on historical bindings in our collections. Some of these elements are truly hidden, and some are visible but are difficult to describe. We will briefly look at examples of “extra” elements ranging from overcovers, artwork, old mends, and repurposed materials, and discuss the value of these often surprising additions. We will close by exploring how a thorough understanding of the physical book can be gained and transmitted to support research involving historical bindings. The lecture will be supported by examples of historical bindings, some available for participants to handle. 

To sign up for this seminar, please contact RBS Development Assistant Natasha Richter at nlr9t@virginia.edu by Friday, 19 October. Space is limited and acceptance is on a first-come, first-served basis.

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

RBS Faculty Member Tom Congalton Elected President of ILAB

[25 September 2012] The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has elected Tom Congalton as its new president in a unanimous vote. Congalton has taught at RBS since 2008, where he co-teaches The Printed Book since 1800: Description & Analysis with Katherine Reagan.

Jennifer Howard of The Chronicle of Higher Education Blogs about RBS and the Born-Digital

[24 September 2012] Part 4: "Rushdie's Digital Shadow, or How to Create Electronic Archives"

[23 August 2012] Part 3: "CSI: Rare Book School, or Computer Forensics in the Archives"

[22 August 2012] Part 2: "Digital Materiality, or Learning to Love our Machines"

[26 July 2012] Part 1: "But is it a book?"

Now Accepting Applications for RBS 2012 Scholarships

[17 September 2012] Please check the Rare Book School Scholarships page for the newly updated application form for the 2012 scholarship cycle. The application deadline for 2012 is October 15.

RBS Director Michael Suarez Helps Launch OSEO in Oxford

[7 September 2012] See this short video to learn more:

Rare Book School featured in The New York Times

[24 June 2012] Rare Book School is featured in today's New York Times—the lead article in the Arts section!

If you like Jennifer Schuessler's piece as much as we do, we think you'll love our eight-minute video:

RBS Announces 2012 Summer Lecture Series Schedule

[24 May 2012] The staff at Rare Book School are thrilled to announce the exciting lineup for this summer's lecture series! The schedule is packed with talks by specialists from a wide-array of book-related subjects—typography, history, conservation, and more.

The lectures are free and open to the public. All talks will take place on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library (unless otherwise noted). Lectures will last 30–40 minutes with 10 minutes for Q&A, and will be followed by a reception in the RBS space on the first floor of Alderman Library. Information regarding lecture titles and topics will be announced as the summer progresses.

Date	Lecturer	Title	Background
4 June	Jeff Peachey	"Reconstructing Diderot: Eighteenth Century French Bookbinding"	Conservator and Maker of Conservation Tools
6 June	Sören Edgren	"Papermaking and Woodblock Printing in Chinese Book History"	East Asian Studies Department, Princeton University
11 June	Ed Hirschland	"A Funhouse Mirror—Reflecting on Books, Collecting and Chicago History"	President, The Landhardt Corporation
13 June	Anne-Marie Eze	"A Most Fascinating and Dangerous Pursuit: Rare Books at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum"	Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
2 July	Johan Kugelberg	"Documenting Counter-Culture: Problems and Solutions in the Preservation of Unpopular Historical Narratives"	Author/Curator/Archivist
4 July**	Matthew P. Brown	"Bell's Liberties"	Director, The Center for the Book at the University of Iowa
16 July	Stuart Bennett	"Trade Bookbinding in the British Isles, 1660-1800"	Owner, Stuart Bennett Rare Books
18 July	Sue Gosin	"Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Revival of Hand Papermaking in the 20th & 21st Centuries"	Co-founder of Dieu Donné Press & Paper
23 July	Matthew Carter	"Genuine Imitations" - 2012 Sol. M. and Mary Ann O'Brian Malkin Lecture	Type Designer and 2010 MacArthur Fellow
25 July	Ezra Greenspan	"The Biographer and the Mysteries of the Archive: The Case of William Wells Brown"	Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Chair in Humanities, Southern Methodist University

**The July 4th lecture will take place in Jefferson Hall on the West Range.

Now Accepting Applications for October 2012 Course

[16 May 2012] RBS is now accepting applications for Introduction to Illuminated Manuscripts (M-50), to be taught by Roger Wieck at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. Wieck, the Morgan's Curator of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, has taught the course since 2001. The course, which is aimed at newcomers to the field, offers a rare chance to work closely with the Morgan's world-class manuscripts collections.

Applications are available here.

Changes at Rare Book School!

[11 May 2012] We are delighted to share some exciting news: Rare Book School is renovating some 2,500 square feet of newly acquired space adjacent to our current space for our students and faculty members. By the beginning of our summer sessions, we'll have a new classroom, collections vault, reception space, and galley kitchen! To read more and view pictures of the continuing construction, visit our renovations page.

UVA Special Collections Appoints Two New Curators

[7 May 2012] Earlier this year, the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at UVA announced the appointment of two new curators: Molly Schwartzburg and David R. Whitesell.

From Library Director Nichole Bouché:

Molly Schwartzburg, presently Cline Curator of Literature at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, and David R. Whitesell, Curator of Books at the American Antiquarian Society,  in Worcester, MA, will join the staff of the UVA Libraries in April, combining their diverse backgrounds and experience to provide leadership and direction for the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library's rare and special collections in American history, American literature, European literature,  and the history of the book, printing, and illustration, as well as our many specially focused collections, such as the Marion duPont Scott Sporting Collection,  the Albert H. Small Declaration of Independence Collection, and the Douglas H. Gordon Collection of French Books.

Molly Schwartzburg began her tenure at the Ransom Center in 2006, and has worked closely with the HRC’s leadership to build and promote the Center’s British and American literature collections. She also has been active in interpreting collections to the academic and research community, and to the general public, through her contributions to HRC exhibitions, public programs, and digital initiatives. Her current online exhibit, "The Greenwich Village Bookshop Door: A Portal to Bohemia, 1920-1925," was recently featured in the New York Times Book Review (link to article).

Prior to her appointment at the HRC, Molly was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Stanford University, where she also received her Ph. D. in English and American literature. She received her M.A. in English from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her A. B. in English from Harvard University.  She is presently working towards an M.L.I.S. at UT Austin. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked briefly in publishing and in the book trade. Molly is an active member of Rare Book and Manuscript Section (RBMS) of the American Library Association/Association of College and Research Libraries, and currently chairs the Exhibition Awards Committee. She has also published articles and spoken on a variety of topics in literature and author studies.

David R. Whitesell has been Curator of Books at the American Antiquarian Society since 2006, building the AAS’s premiere collections of pre-1877 American imprints.  In addition, he participates in research and instruction outreach activities, and also served as content coordinator for the AAS’s contributions to the Sabin Americana, 1500-1929 (Gale Digital Collections) project.  David is currently preparing the AAS’s bicentennial exhibition, for the fall of 2012.

Prior to his appointment at the AAS, David served as Rare Book Cataloger at The Houghton Library,  Harvard University, and before that worked in New York for Richard C. Ramer Old & Rare Books, and as a cataloguer in the Books & Manuscripts Department of Sotheby’s. David received his M.S. from the School of Library Service at Columbia University, and his A.B. in History from the University of Michigan. He has published articles and spoken on a variety of topics in bibliography, the book trade, and special collections librarianship, and is on the faculty of the Rare Book School (UVA).  He is an active member of RBMS, as well as of several leading bibliographical societies, including the Grolier Club and the Bibliographical Society of America.

 

RBS Faculty Member Richard Noble Identifies Paul Revere Engraving

[19 April 2012] Brown University Rare Books Cataloguer and longtime RBS faculty member Richard Noble was recently featured in both a National Public Radio story and a New York Times article concerning the John Hay Library's recent discovery of a rare Paul Revere engraving. The engraving, which portrays Jesus' baptism in an unusual manner, is one of only five known copies in existence.

Noble, who has taught at RBS since the late 1990s, will be teaching RBS course Advanced Descriptive Bibliography (G-50) this summer during the 16-20 July session.

Now Accepting Applications for the Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship

[12 March 2012] 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), 23-27 July 2012. One Tavistock Scholarship will be awarded in 2012. 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 2012 summer application to RBS no later than 16 April 2012. 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 2012.

Now Accepting Applications for the 2012 George Robert Kane Scholarship

[7 March 2012] The Northern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (NCC/ABAA) is now accepting applications for the 2012 George Robert Kane Scholarship, which will provide funding to attend courses offered by Rare Book School, the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, or California Rare Book School (Los Angeles). These scholarships honor the memory of long-time NCC/ABAA member George Robert Kane (6 October 1913--28 November 2009) and are designed to promote professionalism and education relevant to the book trade.

To apply, please fill out the application form (PDF) and send it to Chapter Secretary Chris Lowenstein at chris@bookhuntersholiday.com. Please contact Ms. Lowenstein with any questions or comments.

Applications are due by 5 pm on 11 May 2012.

UPenn Symposium in Honor of RBS Faculty Member Daniel Traister

[2 March 2012] In honor of Daniel Traister on the occasion of his retirement, the University of Pennsylvania Libraries will host a symposium, 30-31 March, examining the worlds of librarians and scholars and how these worlds intersect with and influence each other. Themes to be addressed by symposium speakers will include:

   * History of Collections and Collecting: Encyclopedism vs. Curiosity
   * Epistemology and Its Classifications in Libraries
   * History of Librarianship/Portraits of Librarians
   * The Role of the Librarian: Scholar and/or Professional
   * Changes and Continuities in the Digital Age: Textual Conversion, Reading Practices, and Knowledge

Crossing disciplines and time periods, these themes reflect some of the broad interests that Dan has brought to his own work at institutions including the New York Public Library and the University of Pennsylvania. Dan has shared his insights with colleagues and students at those institutions as well as at Rare Book School, where for many years he taught courses and influenced a new generation of librarians. In addition, he has published many articles and reviews on scholarly and library-related topics.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Roger Chartier (Collège de France and University of Pennsylvania) and Michael F. Suarez, S.J. (University of Virginia and Director, Rare Book School). Other speakers include John Bidwell (Morgan Library), Rachel Buurma (Swarthmore College), Rosemary Cullen (Brown University), Lynne Farrington (University of Pennsylvania), James Green (Library Company of Philadelphia), Andrea Immel (Princeton University), Zachary Lesser (University of Pennsylvania), Jack Lynch (Rutgers University), Kathy Peiss (University of Pennsylvania), Alice Schreyer (University of Chicago), Jacob Soll (Rutgers University), and Peter Stallybrass (University of Pennsylvania).

Registration is free and available on the website. A tentative schedule has been posted.

RBS Faculty Member Timothy Barrett Featured in New York Times Article

[1 March 2012] University of Iowa research scientist, 2009 MacArthur Fellow, papermaking historian and longtime RBS faculty member Timothy Barrett was recently featured in a New York Times article, "Can a Papermaker Help to Save Civilization?" Published on 17 February, the article follows his annual washi Japanese-style papermaking process and features an excellent photographic slideshow. Barrett will be teaching The History of European & American Papermaking 11-15 June, alongside Morgan Library Books Curator John Bidwell. The two have taught the course together off-and-on sice 1987.

 

 

RBS Clay Lectures

[14 February 2012]

H. Tomás Gómez-Arostegui
Associate Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School

Copyright at Common Law before 1710
and Its Modern Implications

Thursday, 1 March 2012
5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
The Auditorium of the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture and the Albert and Shirley Small
Special Collections Library

In this lecture, Prof. H. Tomás Gómez-Arostegui will discuss the origins of Anglo-American copyright law and will address, in particular, whether a copyright in published works existed under the common law of England before 1710, which was the year the first modern copyright statute was enacted. His lecture will examine new evidence from the National Archives of twenty unreported copyright-infringement suits that were filed in courts of equity before 1710.

The cases are significant for two reasons. First, legal historians have assumed that no such lawsuits were filed before 1710.Rather, the conventional view has been that suits enforcing a common-law copyright arose only after the statutory terms of the newly enacted copyright statute of 1710 began to expire in the 1730s. Second, the cases are especially important because the origin of copyright has been under question in recent years as scholars—including legal historians and book-trade historians—have begun to more critically examine the theoretical and historical bases of copyright law. At the heart of the debate is whether to treat copyright as a natural right or property right, on the one hand, or as a privilege that was created solely by statute. These differing viewpoints carry hefty baggage because they set the default basis of copyright law. The common-law view suggests that the original purpose of copyright was to protect authors and their assigns in their works. The statutory view suggests, however, that copyright was created principally for the benefit of the public and that the rights given to authors were merely incidental to that purpose. The latter view has been gaining traction in recent years as scholars have attempted to prove that common-law copyright was a myth.

Apart from delving into this legal question, Prof. Gómez’s lecture will offer insights into the operation of the book trade in London in the years before the copyright statute of 1710. This lecture will thus be of value to those interested in copyright, the book trade, or legal history.

The lecture will be followed by a reception in 116 Alderman Library.

 

"Civil Legal Records of the English Courts before 1800:
Finding and Interpreting Documents Relating to the Book Trade"
A seminar taught by H. Tomás Gómez-Arostegui
Friday, 2 March 2012; 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
The Byrd/Morris Seminar Rooms of the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American
History, Literature, and Culture and the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Civil litigation records provide one of the richest sources of information still extant on the book trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. Already known by many bibliographers and book-trade historians as potential treasure troves, the records are often elusive, difficult to navigate, and sometimes seemingly impenetrable. During this seminar, Professor Gómez-Arostegui will explain the where and the what of the records generated by the principal courts of England, focusing particularly on the records of the Court of Chancery, where many cases involving the book trade were filed. His presentation will offer attendees a multi-media experience, as he will make extensive use of his database of over 2,000 high-resolution images of court records (of nearly every conceivable type) from 1560 to 1800 that he has collected over six years of regular visits to the National Archives in London.  

To sign up for this seminar, please contact RBS Program Director Amanda Nelsen at an2b@virginia.edu by February 27, 2012. Space is limited and acceptance is on a first-come, first-served basis.

(You can download the Clay Lectures poster as a PDF here.)