Printer/Press Assignment, SCHC 454

SCHC 454C
Printer/Press Assignment

Due: March 20.


Using the collections of the Irvin Department and your work in the course thus far, you will choose the work of one printer, press, or family of printers to examine closely.

Any printer or press active pre-1800 can be used. Post-1800, only fine presses, not commercial publishers, should be chosen. If you are thinking of choosing a post-1800 printer or press, please ask me first.


Method:
You will identify at least 3 separate works produced by this press, and examine them carefully together as a representative body of work.

Consider all of the elements of a book's production we have thus far discussed. Consider the different models for thinking about and writing about the history of the book. And consider the many debates about print culture we have touched upon. Place your chosen group of books into these debates and models and attempt to answer some questions about them, such as the following:

How do your chosen books compare in their composition, typography, and other elements of production? Do they constitute an intellectual body of work as well? How and where is this particular press situated within its larger national or European marketplace? How might its work compare with its potential competitors or colleagues in the same city or region? Is there a primary audience for this body of work? Are the titles you chose representative of the full body of this press's production?

To repeat: please treat these books together as a body of work, however imperfect. You needn't, for example, attempt to place each single item separately through Darnton's communications cycle.

You will write up a summary report on your findings of between 1000-1500 words (i.e. 4-6 double-spaced pages), excluding any notes, footnotes, or bibliography. Be prepared to briefly present your results to the class, along with your books, on March 20.