INSTG012: Historical bibliography

Course overview
Aims to provide an understanding of the book as physical object, with an emphasis on published and unpublished material produced pre-1850. Lectures and reading cover the history of the book while practical sessions cover bibliographic description, including title page facsimile and an overview of DCRM(B).

By the end of the course, students will have an overview of the history of the book and the materials that make it up (paper, vellum, bindings, ilustrations, print, etc.), some practical exerience of bibliographic description, and knowledge of the major techniques for research, including provenance research, copy census and reader analysis.

In many of the practical sessions, students work with materials from UCL Special Collections, and we also benefit from the expertise of Susan Stead (Outreach and Cataloguing Librarian) and Fred Bearman (Preservation Librarian). A video overview of UCL Special Collections, including vox pops from several 2009 Historical Bibliography students is available on the library website.

In 2009 we visited Senate House Library and St Bride's Printing Library, and similar excursions will be organised for 2010 once exact numbers of students are known. Previous guest lecturers have included Dr Karen Attar (Rare Books Librarian, Senate House Library).

Flyer from Options Fair, 28 September 2010

Assessment: Assessment by coursework only.

Optional for: MA LIS, MA ARM. This module is also available for short course students.

Taught by: Anne Welsh

Further information for students currently taking this module