Book Design: A Cultural History

Catalog description

Today the book is thriving despite earlier predictions of its "death" at the hands of the digital media. What has made the book so powerful a medium over six centuries? This course will take you into the book's makeup, design, and impact over time. We study how the book was made at different times in its historyfor instance, the manuscript book (medieval), the hand-press book (Renaissance and eighteenth century), the machine-made book (1800s to present). We also ask how today's databases like Google Books make us see new dimensions of the print medium that were not visible earlier. Likewise we will study theories of the print medium and the cultural effects of the book among readers and social groups. Students will have hands-on experience with a printing press and the Rare Book archives at Hunt and Hillman libraries. Two papers and shorter assignments will be required.