Rare Book School Report

I participated in a Rare Book School course, 15th-Century Books in Print and Manuscript, the week of August 14-18. Classes were co-taught by Paul Needham and William Noel, and met daily from 8:30-5 at the Walters Art Museum. Coffee breaks, lectures, receptions, and evening cocktail hours all took place in the the neighboring Engineers Club, which is housed in the magnificent Garrett-Jacobs Mansion. I was invited to participate by Terry Belanger, who showed his customary generosity in contacting me and suggesting that I look into the course when he learned that I would be in Baltimore working on the Roman de la Rose Digital Surrogates project at Johns Hopkins University’s Eisenhower Library. In addition to attending the course as a student, I helped out by offering coverage during the days when the RBS staff were otherwise occupied back in Charlottesville.

The stated purpose of the course was “to encourage a way of bibliographical thinking that should prove useful in the analysis of all books, early or modern,” a goal that Needham and Noel realized admirably. The notions that the study of 15th-century books should incorporate both manuscript and print materials and that a study of one informs the other are fundamental ones; indeed one might say that these are obvious truths. Yet the opportunity to learn about books and manuscripts from the 15th century in one setting is quite rare, and the opportunity to do so with the expertise of a top-notch incunabulist (Needham) and a widely recognized expert on medieval manuscripts, and especially manuscript illumination (Noel) working in tandem may be unprecedented. Class participants learned not only from the prepared lessons given by the instructors, but also from witnessing and participating in the process of Needham and Noel learning from one another. There were many unscripted light-bulb moments as important parallels between print and manuscript materials were revealed. In addition to their expertise, both are very personable and have an obvious enthusiasm for teaching and for their fields. There was also a bit of good-natured ribbing between them, with Needham playing the paper-loving American print enthusiast to Noel’s parchment-loving British manuscript devotee. On several occasions Noel produced one of the many incredibly beautiful examples of medieval illumination held in the Walters collection, calling attention to its gold-leaf decorations and exquisitely prepared parchment, before handing over control of the class, along with a particularly plain example of printed material, to Needham!

Topics covered in the class included how print imitated manuscripts and vice versa, the development of print – particularly Gutenberg’s innovations and Needham’s well-known discovery that Gutenberg did not use movable type, how a printing shop worked, paper sizes, the influence on parchment size on paper size, the influence of manuscript codex sizes on the size of printed books (e.g. many books of hours are roughly of the same size, as are many Bibles, psalters, and so forth), and how books of both types were constructed.

There were many fringe benefits as well. The Walters is a wonderful museum, and its setting in the Mt. Vernon cultural district of Baltimore provides good opportunities for dining out, shopping for used books, or seeing the sights. In addition to food, drink, and culture, the class, along with a course on Islamic manuscripts that was running simultaneously, collected a diverse group of friendly and interesting participants, including librarians, collectors, art historians, professors, and medievalists (and of course some filled more than one of these roles).