What is Computational Bibliography? – The 2025 Sol M. and Mary Ann O’Brian Malkin Lecture

Book historians have long faced a methodological dilemma. Do we want to study particular material objects in granular detail, or are we primarily concerned with more general patterns connected to larger questions about politics, economics, censorship regimes, or ideology? While not strictly mutually exclusive, these two approaches nevertheless exist in tension, and scholars frequently orient themselves toward one side or the other. In this talk, Christopher N. Warren will explore how the new field of computational bibliography is helping to resolve this dilemma through its ability to connect granular, material details to larger, more consequential patterns. Computational bibliography, Warren argues, makes it newly possible to move fluidly between scales—bringing into focus material features like individual type sorts and paper stocks while also uncovering large-scale clandestine printing campaigns and historical print networks. Warren’s talk will show how such dynamic scaling is not merely a technical convenience but a methodological breakthrough—one that enables book historians to ask and answer fascinating new questions.

Additional Links

• Lecture Recording
• SoundCloud Audio File