Book Illustration Processes to 1900
Course Information
Instructor: Terry Belanger
Location: Los Angeles / UCLA
Mode: In-person
Dates: August 11–15
Tuition:
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.
Offered
Credit
Completion of this course helps to meet requirements for one of the following certificate requirements:
- 1 of 3 elective credit courses for Certificate in Rare Books and Manuscripts, or
- 1 of 2 elective credit courses for Certificate in Librarianship, Activism, and Justice