Course: The Book in the West, With an Emphasis on California

Faculty: Gary Kurutz, California State Library

Description: This course presents an introduction to the history of the book in California and an exploration of classic Western Americana. Topics will include 1) the bibliography and bibliographers of the Golden West with an emphasis on Hubert Howe Bancroft, Robert E. Cowan, Henry R. Wagner, and Lawrence Clark Powell; 2) The Zamorano 80 (the most famous list of the important books of the West; 3) The making of a Gold Rush Bibliography; 4) Great illustrated books; 5) The Nineteenth Century book trade with a look at pioneer bookselling, the marketing of books and reading in the west; 5) the fine press books and bibliophilic organizations. Some miscellaneous subjects will be included such as cookbooks, trade catalogs, pioneer auto trips, and ephemera. Collectors of California fine press books and book dealers specializing in Western Americana will be guest speakers and field trips to special collections of books in the West will be a part of the course.

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Course: Descriptive Bibliography

Faculty: Carl Berkhout, University of Arizona

Description: This introductory course is intended for special-collections librarians, members of the rare-book trade, and bibliographers whose scholarly work requires a practical knowledge of the precise, detailed physical description of early printed books. It will address all matters involving the determination and description of a putative ideal copy; the correct distinction of editions, issues, states, and impressions; the accurate presentation of title-page, colophon, and other internal information; the identification of paper and watermarks, type, and illustrative contents; and the treatment of other features and circumstances of printing and distribution. We shall focus above all on getting exactly right the understanding and close description of the format and collation of even the most complex books. We shall be concerned chiefly with books from the hand-press period -from the invention of printing to about 1800- but as time permits we shall also consider some of the earliest significant innovations of the machine age. Each class day will involve an intensive combination of lecture, supervised in-class exercises (largely the writing of full descriptions of progressively difficult original books in hand), and individual guidance.

Requirements: In their personal statements applicants should clearly describe all education, experience (or not), and professional expectations bearing upon this course. Although the course has no formal language requirements, students should prepare themselves with at least a functional bibliographic knowledge of as many classical and modern Indo-European languages as possible-chiefly Latin, German, French, and Italian. The course readings are not merely suggested; it is imperative that every student will have read these texts carefully.

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Course: Rare Book Cataloging

Faculty: Deborah J. Leslie

Description: Course is limited to 12 students

Aimed at catalogue librarians who find that their present duties include (or shortly will include) the cataloguing of rare books or special collections materials. Attention will be given primarily to cataloguing books from the hand-press period, with some discussion given to 19th and 20th century books in a special collections context. Topics include: comparison of rare book and general cataloging; application of codes and standards (especially DCRM(B)); uses of special files; problems in transcription, collation and physical description; and setting cataloguing policy within an institutional context.

This course is restricted to working cataloguers experienced in AACR2R, MARC, and general cataloguing principles and practices. No knowledge of early books is necessary. The goal of the course is to provide practice in each of the primary elements of the rare book catalogue record, so that students will be equipped to begin cataloguing their institutions rare book and special collections materials. In their personal statement, applicants should describe their experience with machine-readable AACR2 cataloguing and provide a brief description of the types and date range of materials they expect to catalogue with DCRB. In addition, applicants are requested to submit 1-3 typical bibliographic records of materials they currently are cataloguing, preferably original cataloguing of modern books or serials.

Requirements: In their personal statement, applicants should describe their experience with machine-readable AACR2 cataloging and provide a brief description of the types and date range of materials they expect to catalog with DCRM(B). In addition, applicants are requested to submit 1-3 typical bibliographic records of materials they currently are cataloging, preferably original cataloging of modern books or serials.

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Course: Introduction to Special Collections Librarianship

Faculty: Susan M. Allen, Getty Research Institute; Lynda Claassen, University of California, San Diego

Description: An introduction to the principles and practice of special collections librarianship, with an emphasis on rare books. Topics to be covered include: the definition and role of special collections, audiences and users, collection development, intellectual and bibliographic access, exhibitions and other outreach programs, preservation, physical facilities and security, grants and development, donor relations, ethics, intellectual property issues, and the impact of digitization on special collections operations and services. Institutional politics and culture and their implications for special collections will be discussed.

This course provides a conceptual and practical overview of special collections librarianship. It is intended for those who are interested in special collections librarianship, but who have not had formal training or instruction. We will consider how special collections contributes to fulfilling the teaching and research mission of educational and cultural institutions and examine strategies for enhancing and expanding the use of special collections among a variety of constituencies, especially in college, university, and independent research libraries. Current trends in higher education and libraries, including technology, will be considered from the perspective of their impact on special collections. The course will cover opportunities and challenges of the current environment, in particular maintaining core functions of special collections while adding new audiences and activities.

Participants will visit several important special collections libraries in the Los Angeles area- UCLA's Department of Special Collections, the Research Library at the Getty; The Huntington Library, and the Libraries of the Claremont Colleges.

Requirements: In their personal statement, applicants should provide a brief description of their library or special collections experience, the nature of their interest in this course, and specific topics or issues they would like to see addressed.

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Course: The History of the Book in Latin America, 16th- 19th Centuries

Faculty: Daniel J. Slive, William Reese Company; David Szewczyk, The Philadelphia Rare Books and Manuscripts Company

Description: This course will present a comprehensive introduction to the history of the book in Latin America from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. The focus will be on colonial period imprints, ca. 1539 through ca. 1830, produced throughout the region. Topics will include the introduction and dissemination of the printing press; the elements of book production (paper, ink, type, illustrations, bindings); printers and publishers; authors and illustrators; audiences and market; monopolies; and censors, collectors, and libraries. Additional selected subjects to be discussed include the art of the Latin American book (including 19th-century lithography), modern private and institutional collectors, and reference sources. The course will include first-hand examination of materials and field trips to special collections with Latin American resources. Intended for special collections librarians, area studies bibliographers, institutional and private collectors, members of the trade, and scholars with an interest in the region, knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is not necessary.

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Course: Preservation Stewardship of Library Collections

Faculty: Mark S. Roosa, Pepperdine University

Description: An introduction to the principles and practices of contemporary library preservation with an emphasis on development and management of programs that make possible the responsible stewardship of analog and digital collections. Topics to be covered include: the physical characteristics of library materials, factors affecting collections and control strategies, assessing needs and setting priorities, and development and management of a balanced preservation program. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of science in preservation, conservation, reformatting endangered materials, and the safe exhibition methods. Theoretical models and innovative solutions to preservation problems will be explored as will approaches to aligning the library preservation program with the mission and agenda of the university, museum or institution. Participants will visit select libraries, preservation departments, and laboratories in the Los Angeles area and will hear from leading preservation practitioners.

Requirements: In their personal statement, applicants should provide a brief description of their library or preservation experience, the nature of their interest in this course, and specific topics or issues they would like to see addressed.

Course: Book Illustration Processes to 1900

Faculty: Terry Belanger

Description: The identification of illustration processes and techniques, including (but not only) woodcut, etching, engraving, stipple, aquatint, mezzotint, lithography, wood engraving, steel engraving, process line and halftone relief, collotype, photogravure, and color printing. The principal medium of instruction in this course will be actual examples of original prints drawn from the RBS collections, most of them divided into individual packets (one for each two students) all from the same (or a very similar) source. The students in the course will study these packets under close supervision, using 8X loupes and 30X microscopes (both provided), as necessary.

The CALRBS version of "Book Illustration Processes to 1900" will differ from the RBS Charlottesville version in that it will omit the laboratory sessions (in which students make relief cuts, etchings, and drypoints), providing more time for examining prints. The CALRBS version of the course pre-supposes a basic knowledge of print identification techniques; students who have already taken the course in Charlottesville (especially ifthey have not done recently) are welcome to apply for admission to the CRBS version, which will rely heavily on RBS prints and printing surfaces acquired within the past several years.

Requirements: In their personal statement, prospective applicants should describe the extent of their formal and/or informal background in the field.

Course Readings: Before coming to class, please read (and, preferably, reread) all of How to identify prints, second edition (London [and NY]: Thames and Hudson, 2004) by Bamber Gascoigne. Gascoigne is both comprehensive and excellent. It costs $50 list, but check BestWebBuys or a similar Internet bookfinder to get the lowest online price. Many museum bookshops carry copies of the book, and in any event it should be relatively easy to get via interlibrary loan. There are plenty of copies of Gascoigne available in class, but you may wish to bring a copy with you to your session, so that you can review various sections of the book outside of class, between sessions or overnight.

I'll be referring constantly to Gascoigne in class, and you will get a lot less out of this course if you have failed to look seriously at the book before coming to RBS.There is always a waiting list for this course (and usually a long one). If you find that you do not have time to read Gascoigne before coming to RBS, please withdraw from the course or postpone attending until another time in order to make way for someone who is able to complete the advance reading.

You may also want to take a good look at an excellent general history of prints and printmaking: Hults, Linda C. The print in the Western world: an introductory history (Madison, WI: Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1996); $70 list. Hults' admirable book provides a starting point from which to acquire a broad overview both of separately published prints and of prints in books.

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