73: Introduction to c15 Printing [G-60]
26-30 July 2004
1) How useful were the pre-course readings?
1: Mandatory for understanding lectures. 2: Extremely -- hard to get hold of some, but those I read were challenging and provided some quick points of reference useful for discussion. 3: Very relevant and useful, especially PN’s own articles -- terrifically instructive. 4: Very useful in terms of what was specified as required, or at least specifically mentioned in explanation. Did not read the others for lack of time. 5: Very useful. A necessary background to the course material. 6: Excellent.
2) Were the course syllabus and other materials distributed in class useful (or will they be so in the future, after you return home)?
1: Yes. 2: No syllabus. Booklet terrific, although we didn’t finish its contents. 3: Workbook very helpful and will be a useful reference item. 4: Most, I think, were useful for the class, although we did not get through most of what was in the course pack. 5: Excellent handbook -- I only wish we had covered more of what was in it so I would be more familiar with purpose of copies. 6: Yes.
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: Paper analysis. 2: The whole course was of life-changing importance for my research/publication plans. Intellectual level also tremendous: so great to have consistently challenging and rewarding discussion. 3: Class was pitched at a very high intellectual level -- appropriate for class members and materials. 4: Taking an object-oriented approach, meaning that we spent a great deal of time really looking at physical evidence. When new observations were made, we were encouraged to really think everything through, even if it was “off-topic.” 5: Paper, size, and format -- something I will have to know in cataloging incunables. 6: Seeing and hearing an expert think his way through material, and patiently letting us participate to come to a conclusion, was a truly masterful way of getting us started on the process of looking at incunables for ourselves. Intellectually invigorating, and hugely thought- provoking.
4) If your course had field trips, were they effective?
1: Yes. 2: Field tip to LC fully justifies long drive(s) -- both the books we saw and PN’s comments simply terrific! LC also most gracious hosts. 3: Library of Congress/Rosenwald trip eye opener, especially watching our expert. 4: Absolutely. Dan De Simone and the Rosenwald Collection rock! 5: It was very well spent, both at the LC and the BAP classroom [looking at UVa Special Collections materials]. It is necessary to see the actual books when discussing them. 6: Went to LC. Not every day that you see live Caxtons within one cover, nor a printed book, a manuscript, and a block book in another! Terrific!
5) What did you like best about the course?
1: Instructor -- superb. High level of class discussion. 2: Level of intellectual exchange! New knowledge to use! Methodological insights! Seriously: the opportunity to watch a mind both original and highly trained take on physical evidence with such energy and integrity was not to be missed. 3: PN’s magisterial, awesome expertise and knowledge of early printed books -- it was very, very instructive watching him analyze books and physical aspects -- showed me a new way of looking at printed texts, really. 4: Watching PN interact with the materials, or more specifically, the real and photocopied examples of incunables. 5: Being able to see actual incunables. PN is a fantastic teacher -- truly inspiring. 6: Having just another incunable page, or even a xerox of an incunable page, transform before my eyes into evidence of c15 accidents of printing or habits of mind, time and time again.
6) How could the course have been improved?
1: Could use a little more systematic presentation of material. Some dominant class members took us off on tangents; sometimes interesting, but time is limited in a one-week course. (Would have appreciated a lengthy bibliography to take home.) 2: More time? An incunable assigned to each student for hands on? 3: Can’t really think of any way, really. 4: Another week. More incunables. 5: There were other topics I had wanted to cover, but naturally because of time [constraints] not everything that was planned was covered. 6: More incunables and manuscripts.
7) 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?
2: None. 3: PN did almost all handling of items, and handled all Special Collections items. 4: None. 5: I found the collections in excellent condition and quite easy to handle.
8) If you attended the Sunday and/or Monday night lectures, were they worth attending?
1: Sunday -- very good. Monday -- okay, a little boring. 2: Yes -- especially enjoyed talking to Ken Carpenter about his project. 3: Both instructive, helpful, and highly informative. 4: N/A. 5: I did not particularly get much out of either lecture, but my interests in books lies in the medieval world, and not in the modern. 6: N/A.
9) If you attended Museum Night, was the time profitably spent?
1: Nice to have videos available on Museum Night. Linotype and Proscope interesting. Time to put away the diced Russia [reindeer skin]. 2: Attended Museum Night: found exhibits interesting and amusing rather than directly relevant to my own work (as a history professor of course my interests will not be exactly the same as some others). The font-making video we watched in class was excellent. 3-6: N/A.
10) Did you get your money’s worth? Any final thoughts?
1: Yes. Read as much as possible before. 2: Absolutely got my money’s worth and expect to take the course again in a few years. Wonderful fellow students! Will recommend highly! 3: A terrific course -- and a fantastic learning experience -- as have been the preceding two courses I’ve taken. It’s hard to say enough good things about RBS, the way everything is run, and the work of all the staff! 4: Yes. Preparatory reading is essential if you are not familiar with c15 printing. Don’t expect to follow a strict agenda, but take delight in watching a great mind at work. 5: I truly enjoyed the course and class time -- the rest of RBS activities I could have done without. 6: Take it!
Number of respondents: 6
Percentages
Leave Tuition Housing Travel
Institution Institution Institution Institution
gave me leave paid tuition paid housing paid travel
66% 17% 17% 0%
I took vaca- I paid tui- I paid for my I paid my own
tion time tion myself own housing travel
17% 17% 83% 66%
N/A: self- N/A: Self- N/A: stayed N/A: lived
employed, re- employed, with friends nearby
tired, or had retired, or or lived at
summers off exchange home
17% 66% 0% 34%
There were three rare book librarians (50%), one teacher/professor (17%), one antiquarian bookseller (17%), and one museum employee [but not in a museum library] (16%).