Hand Bookbindings from Special Collections in the Princeton University Library
A New Online Exhibition

This online exhibition will allow viewers to closely examine historic bookbindings from the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Firestone Library. "Hand Bookbindings From Special Collections in the Princeton University Library: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious" includes more than 200 books. Two major themes are illustrated. First, many of the books offer examples of the elements that make up a book's binding, such as sewing, endleaves, cover attachment, clasps and tooling. Readers learn not only what these elements are but also see specimens dating from different eras and locales. Second, numerous examples highlight historic national technical styles and "bespoke" bindings for famous collectors, as well as specialty styles such as those with fully silk-embroidered covers. Examples date from as early as the 12th century and come down to the end of the 20th. The entire show is arranged in virtual cases, represented by 26 thumbnail images on the Web site's opening page.

Access exhibition here

Pierpont Morgan Library Offers Manuscript Descriptions Online

One of the most frequently consulted resources in the Reading Room of The Pierpont Morgan Library is a set of binders containing detailed descriptions of the collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. The descriptions, compiled by several generations of curators, often contain information not available elsewhere, such as complete lists of texts and illustrations within individual manuscripts, long discursive notes on provenance, binding, etc., and lengthy bibliographies. Books and articles that have come to the curators' attention since 1989 are cited in separate bibliographies, which are updated regularly.

For many years, this documentation was accessible only in paper form. Now, as part of a six-year, three-million-dollar project to make scholarly information on all the Library's holdings freely available on the Web, users of CORSAIR, the Library's comprehensive online collections catalog, can view and print electronic versions of the descriptions and bibliographies. The material, which is linked to CORSAIR records for individual manuscripts, has been scanned and converted into PDF files to preserve the historical layers of scholarship evident in the annotations and additions.

More information available here

London Rare Books School

The University of London's Institute of English Studies announces the first London Rare Books School (LRBS), a series of four-day, intensive courses on a variety of book-related subjects. The courses will be taught by internationally-known scholars associated with the Institute's Centre for Manuscript and Print Studies, using the unrivalled library and museum resources of London, including the British Library, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the University of London Research Library Services, and many more. All courses will stress the materiality of the book so you can expect to have close encounters with remarkable books from some of the world's greatest collections. Each class will be restricted to no more twelve students in order to ensure that everyone has plenty of opportunity to talk to the teachers and to get very close to the books.

In its first year the LRBS will be running in just one week: 23-26 July 2007. The courses (note that the titles themselves are provisional) that are currently planned for 2007 are:

1 The Medieval Book (Course Tutor: Professor Michelle Brown)

2 A History of Bookbinding (Course Tutor: Professor Nicholas Pickwoad)

3 A History of Writing 2000BC-2000AD (Various tutors)

4 The Italian Book to 1600 (Course Tutor: Professor Jane Everson)

5 The History of the Printed Book in the West 1455-2000 (Course Tutor: Professor John Feather)

Application forms will be available in the next month or two but you are invited to register your interest in a course or courses now (given the likely demand you would be well-advised to list a second choice). Those who register now will be the first to receive application forms. You can register your interest in LRBS by emailing your name and address (with an indication of preferred courses) to Zoe.Holman@sas.ac.uk

Further details available here

The Hooke Folio

In May 2006 a long lost manuscript of the papers of Robert Hooke was returned to the archive of the Royal Society. Lisa Jardine played a significant role in the recovery of the folio, which she described as 'an absolute treasure trove of new information about the day to day activities of the early scientific establishment'. The Centre for Editing Lives and Letters (CELL) will be working with the Royal Society on the digitization and analysis of the folio. Two PhD students, funded by the Royal Society and Queen Mary, are currently working on a full transcript and Robyn Adams has been seconded part time to act as a conduit between the archive and the academic community. Lisa Jardine and Robyn Adams will present a seminar on Robert Hooke: the archival tragedy of dying intestate at the Royal Society on Friday 8th December.

More information, including a downloadable PDF file of "The Return of the Hooke Folio" by Lisa Jardine and Robyn Adams, Notes and Records of the Royal Society (2006), 60, 235-39, is available here.

A.H.R.C. Centre for Editing Lives and Letters

Masters Degree Program in Research (MRes):
Editing Lives and Letters, 1500-1800

The Masters in Research 'Editing Lives and Letters 1500-1800' provides a research qualification unique in the United Kingdom. It has been designed for students with an interest in archival research, critical editing, life-writing and intellectual histories. The central aim of the programme is to train students in the skills they require to pursue these interests. The compulsory core course provides the skills required for archival research in manuscript and early modern print production. The course is taught by seminars, workshops and field trips to relevant institutions including the Plantin-MoretusPrintMuseum in Antwerp. A Latin class enables even beginners to become sufficiently familiar with Latin primers and dictionaries to be able to make ad hoc translations of Latin phrases, sentences and short texts. Students are also trained in IT to ensure that they have access to the full range of resources needed for modern scholarship. Modular courses on a range of topics, including life writing and early modern reading, encourage students to use these skills intellectually and creatively, as does the disseration.

More details available here

Shakespeare Survey, Volume 59
EDITING SHAKESPEARE

Contributors:
John Jowett, Edward Pechter, Stanley Wells, Patricia Parker, Tom Rooney, MacDonald P. Jackson, Ron Tumelson, Andrew Gurr, Tom Lockwood, Júlia Paraizs, Jeanne Addison Roberts, Cary DiPietro, Bernice Kliman, Christie Carson, Alan C. Dessen, Balz Engler, Elizabeth Schafer, Suzanne Gossett, Ronald Gray, Ruth Morse, Brandon S. Centerwall, Jonathan Holmes, Michael Dobson, James Shaw, Michael Taylor, Emma Smith, Eric Rasmussen

Details available here

New Cambridge Shakespeare
Forthcoming Titles, 2007

The First Quarto of Romeo and Juliet, ed. Lukas Erne
details here

The Winter's Tale