Instructor: Gary F. Kurutz
Location: Los Angeles, UCLA
Mode: In-person
Dates: August 7–11, 2006
Tuition: $995

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.  

Requirements

Suggested Reading:

Megan L. Benton. Beauty and the Book: Fine Editions and Cultural Distinction in America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.

​See entries under Valenti Angelo, Grabhorn Press, John Henry Nash, and book clubs.

Lawrence Clark Powell. California Classics: The Creative Literature of the Golden State.Los Angeles: The Ward Ritchie Press, 1974.

Lawrence Clark Powell. Southwest Classics: The Creative Literature of the Arid Lands. Pasadena: Ward Ritchie Press, 1974. 

Madelein B. Stern. Antiquarian Bookselling in the United States: A History from the Origins to the 1940s. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985. 

Chapters on San Francisco and Los Angeles.

John Tebbell. A History of Book Publishing in the United States. New York: R. R. Bowker, 1972. Vol. I: pages 498-507.

Also helpful: any of the recent Western Americana catalogs issued by William Reese, Dorothy Sloan, and Michael Heaston. All are loaded with useful information on great Western books. 

Offered

• Books of the Far West, with an Emphasis on California (2006) - Gary F. Kurutz

Credit

Completion of this course helps to meet requirements for one of the following certificate requirements:

• a History of the Book course for Certificate in Rare Books and Manuscripts, or
• 1 of 3 elective credit courses for Certificate in Rare Books and Manuscripts, or
• a History of the Book course for Certificate in Librarianship, Activism, and Justice
• 1 of 2 elective credit courses for Certificate in Librarianship, Activism, and Justice