David Whitesell

G-20 Printed Books to 1800: Description and Analysis

7-11 June 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: Gaskell was extremely useful and the video "Anatomy of a Book" was also very useful. 2: DW did review much of what was covered in Gaskell, but he expected that students had read it. Especially for the material on collection, it greatly helped to have a head-start conceptually. 3: Very helpful. Worth the effort to prepare. 4: Very useful. 5: The pre-course readings were certainly useful, especially as the course content throughout the week quite closely matched that of our primary textbook. The course content primarily functioned as careful explanations of (turgid) reading materials. 6: Pre-course readings were very helpful though at times difficult reading. I would highly recommend doing the readings. 7: Very useful—I felt I had a good grounding in the material coming in. 8: Very useful—the video was very helpful in visualizing the process. 9: Some were quite useful. Others were too technical, at least for someone with my level of experiences, to understand without context. I think those same readings would be more meaningful now, after taking the class. 10: Very useful considering my little knowledge of descriptive bibliography before taking the course. 11: Quite useful, though a close reading was not absolutely necessary, since we covered all of the material in class. 12: Very useful; in fact, essential. I suspect anyone who had not done at the very least the required readings would have been out to sea. A good selection of readings, and very appropriate amount.

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: These materials will be invaluable in my future work. The exit reading list is a terrific source. 2: The workbook is very useful. It includes a comprehensive exit reading list and throughout points to other resources for continuing use. 3: Yes. 4: Very useful for classroom work and will be a good reference tool and source book. 5: Yes. I will probably make frequent use of the course workbook and the exit reading list both. 6: The workbook was great, very well done. This will be helpful when I return home because I have an understanding of descriptive bibliography. Like learning a new language! 7: Yes, I think the workbook will be quite helpful at my job. 8: Yes—Bowers was over my head, but Gaskell was very helpful for context. The other will help in the future. 9-10: Yes. 11: Most definitely. 12: Yes—we used the workbook extensively in class, and the suggested readings list at the end will be very useful going forward.

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: The printing on the c18 press was very informative, making it very clear why format was so important. 2: I greatly enjoyed the description exercises and found them the most interesting. 3: Yes. Paper history, binding history, formatting, first edition. 4: Good overview of printed books in hand press period. I needed an overview before any more detail study of specific aspects. A bit more emphasis on collation formula that I wanted. 5: I was most interested in collation, descriptive bibliography, bookbinding, and the common press. It's hard to say whether the intellectual level of the course was appropriate or not, as the instructor explained everything so well and do succinctly that I had no trouble understanding anything. 6: Of greatest interest was learning how a book was actually printed and assembled in the hand-press period. 7: Everything was pretty relevant, and interesting. I think the intellectual level was appropriate. 8: Explanations of the printing process, hints for exploiting provenances. Description statements (learning how to read them) will help me with our collection and accession list. 9: The sections on printing/papermaking, provenance, and descriptive bibliography were most interesting/relevant to me. 10: The knowledge of how the books were made and put together was the most relevant to what I do as a conservator. For me the intellectual level was perfect. 11: Learning about signature notation and recognition of binding and printing material were my foremost concerns coming in, and I feel I gained a more than adequate instruction in both. 12: A. Most interesting to me were the sections on provenance, paper and bindings, although the entire course was fascinating and of immediate relevance. B. Most definitely. We had a good group of students with a wide range of experiences—the class suited all levels very well.

4. What did you like best about the course?

1: Using the printing press—and DW—easily the two best parts of the course. 2: The combination of general knowledge with specific practical experience gained. 3: Collegial atmosphere, intense, yet informal. 4: The overview (see above). DW did an excellent job in presenting it and stimulating thought. 5: The teaching materials (the rare books) and the instructor. 6: What I liked best was the vast knowledge and experience DW brought to the course, laced with his sense of humor. 7: I enjoyed looking at the example books—this is a very good way to become familiar with the subject matter. 8: Being able to handle materials with the Zelco and magnifier. Being able to see specific examples of each topic. 9: I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to examine the books. 10: All the objects RBS made available to hold and inspect. 11: Frankly, I liked the exercises, the chance to practice what we'd covered in lecture. 12: Good pace and variety of lectures and discussion and the number and scope of the teaching collections was simply amazing. I knew they were good, but until I actually got to see the extent of them, I had no idea just how amazing they were.

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

1: Absolutely. DW is a national treasure, and RBS needs to secure him for as long as possible. 2: Yes, DW achieved "perfect clarity." 3: Yes. Instructor was generous with his time and willing to help. 4: Very much so. 5: Yes. 6: Yes, DW is an excellent instructor, the pace was perfect and he kept us thinking and challenged to learn more. 7: Yes, I felt much more knowledgeable! 8: Yes—the homework exercises were helpful and the discussions were good. He is so knowledgeable. 9-10: Yes. 11: Short answer, yes. 12: DW was both infinitely knowledgeable and infinitely patient with us as we tackled the course materials. He made the class exciting, fun and always enjoyable, even the tricky bits.

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

1-5: Yes. 6: Yes. Learned even more than I expected. Thank you! 8: Yes. DW packed a lot of information and experience into a week. Very well prepared and presented. 9-12: Yes.

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

1: Yes. I actually learned more than I expected to learn. 2-3: Yes. 4: Yes. Some additional information about binding and text condition would have been useful from my viewpoint, although not strictly the physical aspect of the book as published. 5: Yes. I would like to have spent more time on the common press, however, I could also just take another course at a later date. 6: Yes. 7: Yes. I would probably have liked to learn more in certain areas, but obviously there are time constraints in a survey course such as this one. 8: Yes. The course will be helpful in my continuing to identify a collection at my institution that has several different call number systems. Also will help me be more effective in helping students use items. 9-12: Yes.

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

1: In my research on book history and in my teaching of book history. 2: I took the course for personal enrichment rather than professional skill acquisition. 3: Further understand our rare book collection—greater intellectual control. Greater understanding of the language of rare books. 4: To evaluate and select books more carefully. 5: In the short term, I will use what I've learned to do a project for course credit. In the long term, I will hopefully be able to move into rare books librarianship. 6: I will now be able to read bibliographic information about books in our collection and better able to understand it. 7: I will be able to use the knowledge in describing and identifying books at work. 9: I intend to use the knowledge I gained in the curation of my institution's rare book collection. 10: With a greater knowledge of how books were made and what markings are of intellectual importance to scholars will help me to make better decisions when treating books in the lab. 11: In cataloguing early c19 books with hand press elements. 12: Both back at my day job and in my personal projects, the areas we covered this week will be of immediate relevance to me.

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: My only suggestion is to warn participants in advance about the extra Wednesday evening class. 3: I felt this course was spot on for use. 4: Personally, I would like to see a course on collecting books—what makes books collectable, evaluating condition, care for books, what repairs on finds are appropriate. 6: Do some bibliographic descriptions in the "easy" books before tackling those in the 10% that are more difficult. 7: No suggestions! 10: Maybe a little time devoted to bookbinding and the way binders worked. Course on bookbinders and how they worked—Miriam Foot teacher? 11: Actually, I would have assigned more homework, though not necessarily more reading. 12: It would be pretty hard to make this course any more excellent than it already is.

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: Time very well spent. 2: The SC visit provided variation to the week, and the show books are always enjoyable. 3: Yes. 4: Yes—there were wonderful examples of incunable books and unique and beautiful bindings. 5: We went to UVA's SC, and I have no complaints about that experience. We were able to see many of the same bookbinding techniques that we had already studied, just in the form of more valuable books. 6: YES! DW picked out some real jewels from the SC for us to see. 7: We visited SC—very interesting. I think the time was well-spent. 9-10: Yes. 11: Sure. 12: Absolutely—again, seeing even more examples of interesting bindings and provenance was very helpful in getting the lessons "sunk in."

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: Everything was handled appropriately. 3: I find standing to be a better position for handling rare material. Tables are too crowded. 4: I think ours were handled appropriately. 5: No suggestions. 6: All materials were handled in a proper manner. 12: All were handled carefully and as little as possible.

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

1: The best was the Monday evening lecture and the Booksellers' Night. 3: Yes. 4: The ones I attended were—I did not attend movie night. A good variety. 5: Lectures and forums were lively and informative, so yes. 6: The evening events—the lectures—were a rung up the ladder from offerings of 2008. The second movie—You've Got Mail—down the ladder. 7: I was a bit disappointed in Booksellers' Night, perhaps because I am unfamiliar with Charlottesville and do not have a car, so it was difficult to know where to go. [NB: Sorry to hear that you had trouble with this! RBS distributes a brochure to its students with a map of bookstore locations, and the Student's Vade Mecum includes a chapter on local book dealers, plus information about the local free trolley—mgt.] 9: Yes. I attended the ones of interest/relevance to me and skipped the others. 10: Yes. 11: Attended RBS Lecture, skipped Video Night, attended RBS Forum, skipped Booksellers', though had a good time downtown. 12: The Monday Lecture was fascinating; Video Night the instructional video was great, the feature film I'd seen before, so I didn't stay. The Forum needed some minor adjustments [less presentation, more discussion, different layout], but was still interesting.

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: Definitely got my (institution's) money's worth. What a great course and a terrific instructor! 2: Yes. 3: Yes. Highly recommended. 4: Yes, I believe the course offered value. 5: Most definitely. Advice: the instructor is great, and very approachable. 6: Yes!! RBS is a wonderful experience for anyone working in the world of books!! I'll be back! 7: I think so! I am better prepared to do my job. I would recommend the course to anyone who needs a general overview of hand-press period books. It gives you good basic information and an idea of where to go to find more in-depth stuff. 9-10: Yes. 11: I certainly think so. 12: Absolutely! If you're interested in this field, you couldn't ask for a better introduction or a better instructor. Come!

Number of respondents: 12

PERCENTAGES

Leave

Institution gave me leave

66%

I took vacation time

17%

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

17%

Tuition

Institution paid tuition

75%

I paid tuition myself

8%

N/A: Self-employed, retired or scholarship

17%

Housing

Institution paid housing

66%

I paid for my own housing

17%

N/A: stayed with friends or lived at home

17%

Travel

Institution paid travel

36%

I paid my own travel

28%

N/A: lived nearby

36%

 

There were two rare book librarians (16.6%), one archivist/manuscript librarian (8.3%), three general librarians with some rare book duties (25%), one teacher/professor (8.3%), one full-time student (8.3%), one conservator/binder/preservation librarian (8.3%), one book collector (8.3%), one museum employee with some rare book duties (8.3%), and one library employee who is also a student (8.3%).