Advanced Seminar in the History of Bookbinding

Course Description

“Knowledge from this class will help me to more effectively identify materials and structures.” — 2015 student This course is aimed at librarians, (rare book) catalogers, curators, conservators, collectors, and book dealers who preferably have already taken at least one RBS binding course. The class will deal with selected topics in the history of binding from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century. In 2018 the topics covered will include: prize bindings, almanac bindings, French and English eighteenth-century bindings, Thomas Gosden and blind stamped bindings of the early nineteenth century, bespoke and trade bindings from the period around 1850, and the different ways in which bindings can and should be studied. Part of the course will be dedicated to the description of bindings on multiple levels. There will be several PowerPoint presentations. It is a hands-on course, as much as possible, using originals from the collections of Rare Book School in the first place and of UVA Special Collections Library in the second. In their personal statements, students are invited to describe their particular interests in the field of bookbinding or special topics that they would like to see addressed, which will be taken into account as far as possible.

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Advance Reading List

Preliminary Advices

Please read—or at least look carefully at—as many as possible of the following books before coming to Charlottesville.

Study

Foot, Mirjam J. Eloquent Witnesses: Bookbindings and their History. London & New Castle: Oak Knoll Press, 2004. Read “Bookbinding Research, Pitfalls, Possibilities and Needs,” pp. 13–29.

Foot, Mirjam J. Studies in the History of Bookbinding. Aldershot, Brookfield: 1993. Read “Bookbinding and the History of Books,” pp. 2–14 and “Bookbinding patronage in England,” pp. 300–323.

Goldschmidt, E. Ph. Gothic & Renaissance bookbindings, exemplified and illustrated from the author’s collection. 2 vols. London: 1928 (repr. Nieuwkoop, 1967). Read pp. 116–126.

Storm van Leeuwen, Jan. Dutch decorated bookbinding in the eighteenth century. Houten, 2006. Read Volume I, Chapter 1 (pp. 1–138) and Volume III, pp. 629–635 and 813–825.

Terminology

Roberts, Matt T. and Don Etherington. Bookbinding and the conservation of books: a dictionary of descriptive terminology. Washington: 1982. See also http://cool.conservation-us.org/

Binding terms: a thesaurus for use in rare book and special collections cataloguing. Prepared by the Committee of the Rare Book and Manuscript Section. Chicago: 1988. See also http://www.rbms.info/committees/bibliographic_standards/controlled_vocabularies/index.shtml.

Examples of description

Bearman, Frederick A., Nati Krivatsy, J. Franklin Mowery. Fine and historic bookbindings from the Folger Shakespeare Library. Washington: 1992.

Foot, Mirjam J. The Henry Davis gift: a collection of bookbindings. Volumes II, III. London: 1983–2010.

Nixon, Howard M. Sixteenth-century gold-tooled bookbindings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York: 1981.

Storm van Leeuwen, Jan. Dutch decorated bookbinding in the eighteenth century. ‘t Goy-Houten: 2006. 3 vols. in 4 bindings. Read Volume III.

Tidcombe, Marianne. The bookbindings of T.J. Cobden-Sanderson, a study of his work 1884-1893 ... London: 1984.

Some subjects

Bookbindings from the library of Jean Grolier; a loan exhibition, 23 September–31 October 1965, by Howard M. Nixon. London: 1965.

Hobson, Anthony. Humanists and bookbinders: the origins and diffusion of the humanistic bookbinding 1459–1559. Cambridge, New York, etc: 1989.

Lafitte, Marie-Pierre and Fabienne Lebars. Reliures royales de la Renaissance ; la librairie de Fontainebleau, 1544-1570. Paris: 1999.

de Conhout, Isabelle. “Madame de Pompadour als Bibliophile” in Madame de Pompadour und die Künste. Herausg. Xavier Salmon, Johann Geord Prinz von Hohenzollern. München: 2002. (French edition Madame de Pompadour et les arts. Paris 2002).

Nixon, Howard M. English Restoration Bookbindings: Samuel Mearne and his contemporaries. British Museum Exhibition. London: 1974. Read pp. 10–48.

Nixon, Howard M. and Mirjam M. Foot. The history of decorated bookbinding in England. Oxford: 1992.

Coppens, C. “The Prize is the Proof; four Centuries of Prize Books.” In Eloquent Witnesses; Bookbindings and their History, edited by Mirjam M. Foot, 53–105. London, & New Castle. Oak Knoll Press, 2004.

Storm van Leeuwen, Jan. Dutch decorated bookbinding in the eighteenth century. ‘t Goy-Houten: 2006. 3 vols. in 4 bindings. Read Volume I, pp. 30–31.

Publishers’ bindings

Allen, Sue and Charles Gullans. Decorated Cloth in America: Publishers’ Bindings 1840–1910. [Los Angeles]: 1994.

Barber, Giles. “L’évolution de la couverture imprimée“, in : La bibliographie matérielle, prés. par Roger Laufer. Paris: 1983. Read pp. 63–74.

Barber, Giles. “Continental paper wrappers and publisher’s bindings in the eighteenth century.” The Book Collector 24 (1975): 37–49.

Bennett, Stuart. Trade Bookbinding in the British Isles 1660–1800. New Castle & London: Oak Knoll Press, 2004.

Malavielle, Sophie. Reliures et cartonnages d’éditeur en France au XIXe siëcle (1815-1865). Paris: 1985.

McLean, Rauri. Victorian Publisher’s book-bindings in cloth and leather. London: 1974.

McLean, Rauri. Victorian Publisher’s book-bindings in paper. London: 1983.

Pearson, David. English Bookbinding Styles 1450–1800. London & New Castle: Oak Knoll Press, 2005.

Storm van Leeuwen, Jan. “Some observations on Dutch publisher’s bindings up till 1800.” In Bookbinding & Other Bibliophily; Essays in Honour of Anthony Hobson, edited by Dennis Rhodes, 287–319. Verona, 1994.

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Course Evaluations

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Course History