Rare Book School 2006
Rare Book School (RBS) is an independent non-profit educational institute supporting the study of the history of books and printing and related subjects. Founded in 1983, it moved to its present home at the University of Virginia in 1992.
Freshest Advices
Shaggy Dog
[ 26 September 2006 ] Rare Book School has recently acquired a large (15 x 18") intaglio plate, showing a head-and-shoulders portrait of a cheerful long-haired dog, engraved on steel by John C. McRae after a painting by Sir Edwin Landseer. The plate [shown below, reversed] is titled “Fritz.” The image ... Full Story
Sheepish Cloth
[ 3 June 2006 ] A couple of months ago, eagle-eyed Vincent Golden noticed an eBay auction featuring an interesting book in a remarkable binding. The book is the fourth edition of Hymns for the Millennium, composed from the prophetic writings of Joanna Southcott and published by her order by Philip Pullen (London: Manbey, Spencer, Haggar, Essom, 1835), The small book (it is about 6" tall) is bound in cloth printed (as we suppose) to resemble mottled sheep or calf, and the effect is pretty convincing ... Full Story
Digital Target Shooting
[ 10 April 2006 ] We recently added a copy of Henry Blackburn's The art of illustration (London 1894) to the RBS reference library. Blackburn informs us (pp. 21-22) that the first systematic attempt at illustration in a daily newspaper was the insertion of a weather chart in the Times in 1875, but that "in June, 1875, the Times and all other newspapers for England were far distanced by the New York Tribune in reporting the result of a shooting match in Dublin between an American Rifle Corps ... Full Story
Rare Book School's New Online Look
[ 8 March 2006 ] Welcome to the new RBS Web site! We have made an effort to make it easier to navigate, more useful/informative, and, of course, more visually appealing! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about the design or anything about the site in general, please send an e-mail to oldbooks@virginia.edu. Since the site is still in the process of being re-designed, you may find it necessary to visit last year's site.
Site Navigation
Use the navigation bar to the left to view the following pages:
- Current Schedule: a listing of courses to be offered in upcoming sessions
- Course Bulletin: a comprehensive listing of all RBScourse offerings by subject
- Preliminary Reading Lists for RBS courses
- Application Procedures for RBS courses
- Scholarship and Fellowship information
- Course Evaluations filled out by our students
- Ways and Means: transportation and lodging information to assist in estimating the expense involved in attending RBS
- Public Lectures and other upcoming events
- Exhibitions on display in the Dome Room of UVa's Rotunda
- Faculty Biographies
- Staff Contact List for year-round RBS staff, with email addresses
- About Rare Book School
- Freshest Advices: Our latest news and acquisitions
- Friends of Rare Book School and Bequests
- Related Institutes around the world
- Publications from the Book Arts Press and RBS gift items, including mugs, tote bags, aprons, and tape measures
- Miscellaneous information and documents, including those mentioned in the occasional RBS newsletter, Freshest Advices, distributed to the Book_Arts-L, ExLibris, and SHARP-L bulletin boards.