Current faculty: Gary F. Kurutz
Years taught: 2006 – 2012
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 profiles of Robert E. Cowan, Henry R. Wagner, J. Frank Dobie, Carl I. Wheat, Francis P. Farquhar, Ramon Adams, Jeff Dykes, Lawrence Clark Powell, and others; 2) The Zamorano 80 (the most famous list of the important books of the West), Dawson 80, Washington 89, Arizona 50, and other lists; 3) The making of a Gold Rush bibliography; 4) Great illustrated books from Catlin to Landacre; 5) A Southland Bohemia: Charles Lummis to Ward Ritchie and print culture along the Arroyo Seco; 6) The Nineteenth Century book trade with a look at pioneer printing, publishing, and bookselling and early library formation and reading in the west; 7) fine press books and bibliophilic organizations. Some miscellaneous subjects will also be included such as cookbooks and menus; juvenile literature; rare books with local flavor from The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County to Ramona; “From Trains to Planes” and the literature of post pioneer travel; and, last but not least, ephemera. Visits to libraries, an antiquarian bookseller, and a private collector specializing in Western Americana will be an essential part of the course.
Requirements: No previous experience necessary.
Course History
2006: Gary Kurutz teaches this course for the first time.