The University of London's Institute of English Studies announces the second London Rare Books School (LRBS), 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 its second year the LRBS will be running for two weeks: 30 June - 4 July and 14 July - 18 July. The courses planned for 2008 are:

Week 1 	30 June - 4 July

1. 	The Book in the Ancient World
	Course Tutors: Professor Mike Edwards and others.

2. 	The Medieval Book 
	Course Tutor: Professor Michelle Brown

3. 	The Printed Book in Europe 1455-2000
	Course Tutor: Professor John Feather

4. 	A History of Maps and Mapping
	Course tutors: Mrs Sarah Tyacke and Dr Catherine Delano-Smith

5. 	Historical Bibliography
	Course tutor: Professor Tony Edwards

6. 	Children's Books
	Course tutors: Dr Jill Shefrin, Mr Brian Alderson and others

Week 2 	14-18 July

1. 	The Carolingian Book 
	Course tutors: Professor David Ganz 

2. 	The Early Modern Book in England: Exploring the Evidence 
	Course tutors: Dr Arnold Hunt, Mr Giles Mandelbrote 

3. 	Modern Literary Manuscripts
	Course tutor: Dr Wim van Mierlo

4. 	Modern First Editions
	Course tutors: Mr Laurence Worms, Julian Rota, and others

5. 	Bookbinding Decoration
	Course tutor: Professor Mirjam Foot

6. 	Map Production
	Course tutors: Mrs Sarah Tyacke and Dr Catherine Delano-Smith

Each course will consist of thirteen seminars amounting in all to twenty hours of teaching time spread between Monday lunchtime 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 major book history lecture, and a reception hosted by a major London antiquarian bookseller. For those able to stay on to the Saturday, there will be various additional book history-related activities on offer. 

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 February 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 2008 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/. Please contact Zoe Holman (zoe [dot] holman [at] sas [dot] ac [dot] uk) for more information.

(Dr) Wim Van Mierlo 
Institute of English Studies 
School of Advanced Study 
University of London 
Senate House 
Malet Street 
London WC1E 7HU 

http://ies.sas.ac.uk