Posts filed under 'Rare Book School'
Greetings, all, from Charlottesville, Virginia! This is my first dispatch from Rare Book School.
I cannot believe that I am blogging from RBS. I debated about bringing my laptop, as my coursework will not require it and the travel and housing guide suggested that in-room Internet connectivity would not bepossible for RBS attendees, but I checked the Conference Services FAQ page before departing this morning and discovered that active Ethernet ports are provided for summer conference housing occupants. So, with the last minute addition of a network cable, I am now online.
I am happy that I arrived safely and somewhat soundly. There were some minor bumps along the way (like developing a sudden case of sinusitis, nearly missing my plane out of Logan, and accidentally wandering out of the airport in Philadelphia while trying to find the connecting shuttle bus), but overall, it was a pleasant trip. My RBS alumni co-workers had commented that the Charlottesville-Albermarle Airport was cute and quaint. To me, it seemed like most of the small Southern airports I have known. As I walked to the baggage claim area, I had a strong sense of deja vu — a sense of familiarity that was both comforting and disquieting. I almost expected my family to emerge from the throng of people waiting for loved ones.
Since RBS events do not start until tomorrow evening, there is not much to report. Today, I settled in, going on a brief excursion with one of my classmates to the
Harris-Teeter at the Barracks Road Shopping Center for provisions. Tomorrow morning, we plan to visit Monticello before registration, the opening dinner, and orientation.
If I have time, I also hope to take a campus tour before RBS is officially underway. The campus (at least, the little that I have seen of it) is quite beautiful and lush, confirming my belief that the campuses of Northern schools cannot compare with those of Southern colleges and universities … but as an alumna of a Southern state university, I am a bit biased.
July 31st, 2004
It is two a.m., and I have just finished reading — from front pastedown to rear pastedown — John Carter’s ABC for Book Collectors* for probably the tenth time in my life. I picked it up to read about an area of bibliography (issues, states, editions, impressions, and variants) that I am still having trouble with, and as has happened before, I could not stop reading.
It is an easy book to disappear into — well-written, witty, and logical in a way that only reference books can be. When I read it, I feel as if I am at a party where the guests are all book collectors, dealers, and librarians and everyone is making droll remarks about bookbinding, paper, and the eccentricities of the rare book world. And while I cannot engage in the repartee, I am delighted to observe and listen to the other conversations.
On this most recent reading, I thought that I was beginning to get a feel for the tongue-in-cheek cleverness of Carter’s unique dictionary. I caught myself musing that it would be very clever and Carter-esque to add a book label or bookplate to one of the front endpapers of my copy, reading: “This is a book label” [or bookplate, if it was a bookplate, of course] . . . But, now that I have bothered to record this fleeting thought in a post, it does not seem so clever after all.
* Note: Check out the WorldCat link. Although certain online megastores with snazzy websites have copies of this book for you to purchase, I am encouraging you to support a local academic or public library, instead. (Or, if you would prefer to have your own copy, try the publisher, first).
July 8th, 2004
Last month, in all of the busyness and distraction, I forgot to post some really good news. In November, I was awarded a James Davis Scholarship for Rare Book School for the upcoming year.
Today I was checking my e-mail inbox for snow-related cancellations, and I was surprised and a little embarrassed to see my name in the list of Davis Scholars on both the ExLibris listserv and SHARP-L. Most people, I suppose, take great pride in such things; I feel honored (and happy) but terribly self-conscious about it.
At any rate, this means that next August (unlike last August) I will be in Charlottesville (most likely) for the Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography (aka DesBib) course. Maybe, while I am on vacation this month, I will start re-reading the texts for the course.
[By the way, there are many new courses listed this year for RBS: Donors and Libraries (with Susan M. Allen and William P. Barlow Jr.), History of European Handwriting (with Nicolas Barker), Type, Lettering, and Calligraphy, 1830-1940 (with James Mosley), and Seminar in Book Illustration Processes (with Terry Belanger). See the online course bulletin or the mailing list links above for more information.]
December 7th, 2003
As I mentioned a few days ago, Jackie Lyden visited Rare Book School this week for a story for this weekend’s “All Things Considered“. The audio file will be on the NPR web site later today for those who are (or were) not able to listen on the radio. Even if you have listened to the story on the radio, you should check out the web site. There is a special feature titled “Preserving Pages in Charlottesville: A Visit to the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia”, and it includes a short article on RBS and a photo gallery.As a personal aside, I think that it is very strange that whenever I decide not to attend something it gets covered in the news. Last year, after I decided not to take a bookbinding workshop at the North Bennet Street School, the program was covered in the New York Times. And this year, Rare Book School makes NPR. I wonder what will happen next year? Hmm…
August 10th, 2003
There will be a story about Rare Book School on NPR’s “All Things Considered” this Sunday, August 10th. Jacki Lyden of NPR spent a few days this week exploring RBS, the University of Virginia-based pseudo-summer camp for the rare book crowd (eg. librarians, collectors, library school students, and assorted bibliophiles). The announcement from Terry Belanger, the founding director of RBS, can be found in a number of places (ie. the Exlibris list, SHARP-L, or Book Arts-L).
Sadly, this was the week I was supposed to be at RBS for the well known course, Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography (or DesBib, as RBS alums refer to it). Unfortunately, I am young and poor and had to choose between taking a course at Simmons and making some progress towards an MLS or one week of intense study and rare book fun at RBS. Oh well, I will be there next year, definitely. For now, thanks to NPR, I can experience RBS vicariously but with a full night’s sleep and an additional year to finish the pre-course reading.
August 8th, 2003
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