The London Rare Books School 2009
Institute of English Studies, University of London
The London Rare Books School (LRBS) is a series of five-day, intensive
courses on a variety of book-related subjects to be taught in and around
Senate House, which is the centre of the University of London’s federal
system.
The courses will be taught by internationally renowned scholars associated
with the Institute’s Centre for Manuscript and Print Studies, using the
unrivalled library and museum resources of London, including the British
Library, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the University of
London Research Library Services, and many more. All courses will stress the
materiality of the book so you can expect to have close encounters with
remarkable books and other artefacts from some of the world's greatest
collections. Each class will be restricted to a maximum of twelve students in
order to ensure that everyone has plenty of opportunity to talk to the
teachers and to get very close to the books.
In 2009, the LRBS will run for two weeks: 20 July to 24 July and 27 July to 31
July. The courses planned are:
Week One: 20 - 24 July
1. The Book in the Ancient World
Course Lecturers: Dr Irving Finkel, Dr Matthew Nicholls, Dr Marigold Norbye
and Alan Cole, Curator of the Museum of Writing.
2. The Medieval Book
Course Tutor: Professor Michelle Brown.
3. The Printed Book in Europe 1450-2000
Course Tutor: Professor John Feather.
4. A History of Maps and Mapping
Course Tutors: Dr Catherine Delano-Smith and Sarah Tyacke.
5. An Introduction to Bibliography
Course Tutor: Professor Tony Edwards.
6. Children’s Books
Course Tutor: Jill Shefrin.
Week Two: 27 - 31 July
1. Type and its Uses 1455-1830
Course tutor: Professor James Mosley
2. A History of Bookbinding
Course tutor: Professor Nicholas Pickwoad
3. Modern First Editions
Course tutor: Laurence Worms
4. Maps and Mapping in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Society,
Nation, Empire, War.
Course tutors: Dr Catherine Delano-Smith and Sarah Tyacke.
5. The Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian Book, c.600-1050
Course tutor: Professor Michelle Brown
6. Publishing Today
Course Tutor: Professor Iain Stevenson
Each course will consist of thirteen seminars amounting in all to twenty hours
of teaching time spread between Monday afternoon and Friday afternoon.
There will be timetabled ‘library time’ that will allow students to explore the
rich resources of the University’s Senate House Library, one of the UK’s major
research libraries. There will also be a full evening programme with an opening
reception and talk, a book history lecture, and receptions hosted by major
London antiquarian booksellers.
Postgraduate credit is available for these courses at the Institute, which is
one of the ten member-Institutes of the University of London’s School of
Advanced Study. In order to achieve the award of credit a student will have
to complete and pass a 5,000 word essay within two months of the course
(an extra fee to cover marking and other costs will be charged).
The fee will be in the region of £500 which will include the provision of lunch,
and coffee and tea throughout the week. It is likely that a small number of
bursaries will be available, details will be provided later.
A range of different sorts of accommodation will be available including cheap
student housing (on a bed and breakfast basis) close by Senate House;
Senate House is next to the British Museum in the heart of Bloomsbury.
Application forms will be available by early January but you are invited to
register your interest in a course or courses now (given the likely demand you
would be well-advised to list a second choice). Those who register now will be
the first to receive application forms. You can register your interest in LRBS
2009 by emailing your name and address (with an indication of preferred
courses) to: [log in to unmask]
Further details can be found at http://ies.sas.ac.uk/
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