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University of Massachusetts
English 891K
Wed., 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies (Swanson Room
and/or Reading Room)
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course
description
course
requirements
reading
list
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Faculty
James
Kelly
Du
Bois Library 1967
UMass-Amherst
tel 545.3981
fax 577.2565
off. hrs. by appointment
contact instructor
Amaryllis
Siniossoglou
Fine Arts Center
UMass-Amherst
off.
hrs. by appointment
contact instructor
James Wald
G-15 Franklin Patterson
Hampshire College
tel. 559.5592
off. hrs.: Mon., Thurs., 12:00-2:00, Wed., 12:00-1:00 (sign-up)
and by appointment
contact instructor
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syllabus
and course guide
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course
description
UNIVERSITY
OF MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Graduate Seminar (special topics)
This course is a unique amalgam of background study and hands-on
experience aimed at providing a historical overview through
reading assignments in primary sources (e.g., printers' manuals)
combined with secondary sources on bibliography and the history
of the book (e.g., Gaskell, Bowers, Eisenstein, Johns, etc.).
The practical aspect of the course comprises close textual
analysis of sixteenth- through eighteenth-century volumes
from the Renaissance Center, visits to the Mortimer Rare Book
Room at Smith College, guest lectures by scholars, and demonstrations
by book artists. There will be opportunities to make paper,
set type, and perform other printing-related activities.
Because
the course attempts to bridge the gap between the social sciences
and the humanities and the history and art of the book, it
should
appeal to graduate students in such fields as literature,
sociology, communications, and history, as well as participants
in MFA programs. It
is open to advanced undergraduates, as well (instructor permission
required).
James
Kelly is Humanities Bibliographer, Collection Development,
Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; and
Adjunct Faculty, University of Rhode Island Graduate School
of Library and Information Studies. He in addition serves
as the American Editor, Annual Bibliography of English Language
and Literature and recently finished a term as Public Affairs
Director, Society for the History of Authorship, Reading,
and Publishing (SHARP).
Amaryllis
Siniossoglou holds degrees from the Athens School of
Art in her native Greece, the Ecole Normale Supérieure
des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
She has taught sculpture, jewelry design, drawing, painting,
printmaking, and book arts at the graduate and undergraduate
levels at several schools in Massachusetts. In 1999, she
received the prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award from
the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she holds
the position of Visiting Lecturer. Her work has been exhibited
at juried international exhibitions on four continents.
James
Wald is Associate Professor of History and Director
of the Center for the Book at Hampshire College. His field
is cultural history of modern Europe, and among his specialties
is the history of the book. Particular research and teaching
interests include authorship and publishing, journalism,
political literature, and literary life in Germany and France
from the Enlightenment through World War II.
The
course meets at the Massachusetts
Center for Renaissance Studies (650 East Pleasant Street,
Amherst), with the support and participation of its Director,
Professor Arthur Kinney.
Please
note: Depending on the final shape of our plan, there
may be a modest fee for some duplicated readings and studio
materials. We thank you in advance for our understanding.
course
requirements
•
regular attendance
• completion of assigned readings and participation in
discussion
• a short report on an assigned topic (ca. 5 pp.)
• term project (analytical or artifactual) to be negotiated
with the instructors
details
prophet reading
Cloister
Eberbach, Germany
(one of the sites of the SHARP
conference for Gutenberg-Year 2000)
reading
list
The
following required texts are available for purchase at Atticus
Books (8 Main St., Amherst) and will in addition (we hope)
be on reserve, along with related works at the Renaissance
Center:
•
Philip Gaskell, A New Introduction to Bibliography
(1974; rpt. Winchester: St. Paul's Bibliographies; New Castle,
DE: Oak Knoll Books, 1995)
•
David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery, eds., The Book
History Reader (London and NY: Routledge, 2002)
additional
resources
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class
schedule
Meeting
1: 4
September
Introductions
and Administrativia
screening
"The Making of a Renaissance Book"
hands-on activity
examination of Renaissance printed texts:
What are the defining physical characteristics of the early
modern book?
To what extent can they tell us something about the intellectual
world of the text and its readers?
Study
Guide
•
The
video was filmed at the museum
housing the famous Plantin printing office in Antwerp
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Meeting
2: 11
September
Getting
Our Hands Dirty: The Early Modern Book
Readings
• Gaskell, 1-56, 311-60
hands-on
activity
a closer look at books in the collection of the Renaissance
Center:
the making of books and the scientific description of books:
history and analytical bibliography
Study
Guide
•
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Meeting
3: 18
September
Writing
It Down: The Age of Manuscripts
Readings
• Walter Ong, "Orality and Literacy: Writing Restructures
Consciousness," in The Book History Reader,
105-17
• Jan-Dirk Müller, "The Body of the Book:
The media transition from manuscript to print," in
The Book History Reader, 143-50
note: these are also available on electronic
reserve through the UMass library
Guest
Lecture on the culture of writing and illuminated manuscripts
by Dr. R. Dean Ware, Emeritus Professor of History, University
of Massachusetts-Amherst
Study
Guide
•
Come prepared with questions for our speaker
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Meeting
4: 25
September
Early
Books: From Manuscript to Print
Readings
• Gaskell, 57-141
• Elizabeth Eisenstein, "Defining the Initial
Shift: Some Features of Print Culture," in The Book
History Reader, 151-73
Lecture
and discussion with Martin Antonetti, Curator, Mortimer
Rare Book Room, Smith College. Note:
Class will meet in the Rare
Book Room (3rd floor of Neilson Library)
Study
Guide
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Meeting
5: 2
October
Studio
Workshop: Papermaking (instructor: Amaryllis Siniossoglou)
Readings
•
Gaskell, 57-77
• TBA
•
Note: Class will
meet in the printing shop, 4th floor of the Fine Arts Center,
University of Massachusetts (directions will be provided).
Study
Guide
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Meeting
6: 9 October
Book
History as a New Interdisciplinary Discipline
Readings
• David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery, "Introduction"
• Robert Darnton, "What Is the History of Books?"
• D. F. McKenzie, "The Book as an Expressive Form"
• Roger Chartier, "Labourers and Voyagers: From
the text to the reader"
• Adrian Johns, "The Book of Nature and the Nature
of the Book"
all
in The Book History Reader, 1-38,47-76
Study
Guide
We deliberately postponed
this discussion until after you had had a chance to get
to know the book as physical object, as well as some of
the other scholarly literature.
Reminder:
get started on midterm essays.
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no
class 16 October: fall break/Monday schedule
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Meeting
7: 23
October
Authors
Readings
• Editors' Introduction
• Roland Barthes, "The Death of the Author"
• Michel Foucault, "What is an Author?"
• Mark Rose, "Literary Property Determined"
• John Brewer, "Authors, Publishers and the Making
of Literary Culture"
all in The Book History Reader, 219-49
Study
Guide
•
Reminder:
keep working on your midterm
essays.
NOTE:
Please join us Thursday evening for the Hampshire
College Center for the Book Film Series: "Dangerous
Books!" All the fall films deal in some sense with
book history of the medieval or early modern era. Events
include discussion and free refreshments.
This
month's film: "The Name of the Rose"
See
Center for the Book Calendar for Details.
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Meeting
8: 30
October
Studio
Workshop: Relief Printmaking (instructor: Amaryllis Siniossoglou)
Readings
• Gaskell, 154-59
• TBA
•
Note: Class will
meet in the printing shop, 4th floor of the Fine Arts Center,
University of Massachusetts (directions will be provided).
Study
Guide
•
REMINDER:
midterm essay due in class
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Meeting
9: 6
November
Reading
Readings
• Roger Chartier, "The Practical Impact of Writing"
• Editors' Introduction
• Wolfgang Iser, "Interaction Between Text and
Reader"
• E. Jennifer Monaghan, "Literacy Instruction
and Gender in Colonial New England"
• Jonathan Rose, "Rereading the English Common
Reader: A Preface to a History of Audiences"
• Richard Altick, "The English Common Reader:
From Caxton to the Eighteenth Century"
all in The Book History Reader, 118-42, 289-315,
324-49
Study
Guide
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Meeting
10: 13
November
Printing
Readings
• Gaskell, 160-70
• review the earlier readings on the coming of print
(e.g., Müller and Eisenstein) in The Book History
Reader
• review Gaskell on printing in the hand-press era,
as necessary
Note:
Class will meet in Art Larson's printing establishment (Horton
Tank Graphics), 47 East Street, Hadley.
recommended:
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Gaskell, 189-213, 251-65, 274-96
Study
Guide
•
What changes did industrialization bring?
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Meeting
11: 20
November
Textual
Editing: which text to use and why? (instructor: Prof. Arthur
Kinney)
Readings
• Jerome McGann, "The Socialization of Texts"
• Stanley Fish, "Interpreting the Variorum"
in
The Book History Reader, 39-46, 350-58
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plus in-class handouts
hands-on
workshop
comparing the quarto and folio texts of Shakespeare's works
Study
Guide
•
NOTE:
Please join us Thursday evening for the Hampshire
College Center for the Book Film Series: "Dangerous
Books!" All the fall films deal in some sense with
book history of the medieval or early modern era. Events
include discussion and free refreshments.
This
month's film: "Queen Margot"
See
Center for the Book Calendar for Details.
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no
class 27 November: Thanksgiving break
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Meeting
12:
4 December
BookmakingBooks
Studio
Workshop: Book Project (instructor: Amaryllis Siniossoglou)
Readings
TBA
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Note: Class will
meet in the printing shop, 4th floor of the Fine Arts Center,
University of Massachusetts (directions will be provided).
Study
Guide
•
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Meeting
13, 11 December
Oral
presentations & wrap-up
Readings
• TBA
Study
Guide
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LAST CLASS •
NOTE:
Celebrate the end of the course and semester with
us.
Please
join us Friday evening for the Hampshire College
Center for the Book Film Series: "Dangerous Books!"
All the fall films deal in some sense with book history
of the medieval or early modern era. Events include discussion
and free refreshments.
This
month's film: "The Ninth Gate"
See
Center for the Book Calendar for Details.
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return to overview
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