All Rare Book School summer lectures are free, open to the public, and hosted on Grounds at the University of Virginia. Lectures begin at 5:30 p.m. and are followed by a reception. Monday lectures are held in Room 330 of UVA’s Edgar Shannon Library, and Wednesday lectures are held in the Auditorium of UVA’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library.
Recordings of this summer’s lectures will be made available later this year.
Please email contactRBS@virginia.edu with any questions.
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Jun
22025A Parallel History of Books and BlooksLecturer: Mindell Dubansky - Conservator at the Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
UVA Edgar Shannon Library (Room 330) or Zoom • 5:30 p.m. ET
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Jun
42025Jane Austen on the Cheap – The 2025 Kenneth W. Rendell Endowed LectureLecturer: Janine Barchas - Chancellor's Council Centennial Professor in the Book Arts, University of Texas at Austin
UVA Special Collections (Auditorium) or Zoom • 5:30 p.m. ET
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Jun
92025Stationery Bindings: A Law StoryLecturer: Paul Halliday - Julian Bishko Professor of History and Professor of Law, University of Virginia
UVA Rotunda (Multipurpose Room) or Zoom • 5:30 p.m. ET
Rare Book School sponsors and co-sponsors a range of programming at various times throughout the year, including activities at book fairs, symposia at UVA and other locations, and more. These include events organized by members of the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography at their home institutions.
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May
222025SoFCB Keynote Lecture: Transporting Visions, Transcending BoundariesPresented by: The Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School
McNeil Center for Early American Studies, Lecture Hall, 3355 Woodland Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104 • 9:15–10:45 am
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Mar
52025Bibliographic Performances and Surrogate Readings: Author Janelle Rebel in Conversation with Alison FraserPresented by: The Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography
Zoom • 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET
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Feb
112025Faces of God: Author Murad Mumtaz in Conversation with Holly Shaffer on Images of Devotion in Indo-Muslim Painting, 1500-1800Presented by: The Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography
Zoom • 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET
Since 1992, Rare Book School has been responsible for a rotating series of exhibitions in the Dome Room of the Rotunda at the University of Virginia, many curated by UVA undergraduate and graduate students. The books and other materials shown in these exhibitions are drawn both from the RBS collections and from the UVA Library, supplemented by occasional loans by other institutions and individuals.
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Sep 28
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Dec 23
2022Building the Book from the Ancient World to the Present Day: Five Decades of Rare Book School & the Book Arts PressCurated by: Barbara Heritage & Ruth-Ellen St. Onge
The Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York -
Jun 6
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May 1
2019Comics in CircuitCurated by: Ruth-Ellen St. Onge, Jennifer Camp, Elizabeth Dorton, Devon Shannahan, Katherine Smith, and Zach Tauscher
Dome Room, UVA Rotunda -
Jun 13
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Apr 30
2018An Archipelago of Readers: Forming a Literary Culture in Digital MediaCurated by: Katherine McNamara, with the assistance of Will Norton
Dome Room, UVA Rotunda