11th Australasian Rare Books Summer School

The State Library of NSW is delighted to host the 11th Australasian Rare Books Summer School. From 1 – 5 February 2016 three intensive five-day courses and a two-day short course will be presented by leading experts. The courses cover a wide variety of the history and study of rare books and manuscripts and give a thorough insight into the rare book business, both for newcomers and old-timers. Have a look at the schedule:

FIVE-DAY COURSES, 1–5 FEBRUARY 2016

Provenance in Books: Tracing Owners and Collections

Option 1 - This course gives you a personal toolkit to identify and interpret the various kinds of provenance evidence found in books before 1900. It includes practical sessions on palaeography and reference sources. Teaching will be supplemented with exercises and opportunities to see examples drawn from the State Library collections.

Tutor David Pearson (International), Director of Culture, Heritage & Libraries for the City of London Corporation, has previously worked in major research libraries in London and elsewhere. He has published extensively on aspects of book history, with a particular interest in aspects of the book as an owned and designed object.

The Book in the Renaissance

Option 2 - A comprehensive introduction to the history of the book in early modern Europe, from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth. The course is intended for special collections librarians, collectors, booksellers, and scholars and graduate students in any field of Renaissance studies.

Tutor Dr Craig Kallendorf (International), Professor of English and Classics, Texas A&M University, has taught book history at the undergraduate and graduate levels for thirty years. He is the author or editor or twenty books and almost 150 articles and reference entries, with a focus on the relationship of the book as physical object to the content it carries.

Artists' books, zines and other collaborative ventures

Option 3 - An introduction to the world of artists books, zines and other print collaborations. Participants will examine some of the finest examples of artists books internationally and in Australia. While the focus will be on the State Library of New South Wales and its rich holdings, there will be extensive use made of other major public collections in Sydney as well as visits to neighbouring workshops and studios.

Tutor Professor Sasha Grishin AM, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Australian National University, works internationally as an art historian, art critic and curator. He has published over 25 books and two thousand articles and catalogue essays dealing with various aspects of art. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) for services to Australian art and art history.

TWO-DAY SHORT COURSES, 1-2 FEBRUARY 2016

Inside the Australian Rare book trade for librarians and collectors

This course will provide an opportunity for experienced booksellers, including Sally Burdon, Kay Craddock AM, Jorn Harbeck and Jonathan Burdon AM, to share their expertise and experience with librarians and collectors. It includes a series of lectures and practical workshops on book collecting, the physical structure of books, editions and collation, understanding bibliographic descriptions, reference tools, pricing and valuing books, buying through auctions and catalogues.

PUBLIC LECTURES AND ASSOCIATED EVENTS

Saturday 30 January, 2pm – 3pm

David Pearson: What can books tell us?

The value of books is often measured by their contents: the words, ideas, or knowledge that they hold and communicate to us. David Pearson’s lecture will highlight the importance of the cultural and historic value of books as objects, and not just as texts, at a time when more and more of the texts are available online; will we still need the books, in a digital future?


Thursday 4 February, 6pm – 7pm

Dr Craig Kallendorf: Books as Carriers of Relationships

We tend to think initially of books as carriers of ideas, but books were made by people for people, and they carry evidence of those relationships as well. The focus will be on books as the objects that carry the evidence of relationships, with discussion toward the dangers that digitalization poses for recovering this kind of information.


Saturday 6 February, 2pm – 3pm

Sasha Griffin: ST Gill and His Audiences

The Anglo-Australian colonial artist, ST Gill (1818-1880), arrived in Adelaide shortly before Christmas in 1839 and spent his first twelve years in South Australia before travelling to Victoria early in 1852. In this illustrated lecture we will examine Gill’s life and a detailed examination of his oeuvre, which suggests quite a different construct to Gill’s biography from that which has been popularly accepted to date.

Saturday 30 January 2016, 2pm - 3 pm

What can books tell us? Talk with David Pearson

The value of books is often measured by their contents: the words, ideas, or knowledge that they hold and communicate to us. This lecture will highlight the importance of the cultural and historic value of books as objects, and not just as texts, at a time when more and more of the texts are available online; will we still need the books, in a digital future?


Thursday 4 February 2016, 6pm - 7pm

Books as Carriers of Relationships. Talk with Dr Craig Kallendorf

We tend to think initially of books as carriers of ideas, but books were made by people for people, and they carry evidence of those relationships as well. The focus will be on books as the objects that carry the evidence of relationships, with discussion toward the dangers that digitalization poses for recovering this kind of information.


Saturday 6 February 2016, 2pm - 3pm

ST Gill and his audiences. Talk with Sasha Griffin

The Anglo-Australian colonial artist, ST Gill (1818-1880), arrived in Adelaide shortly before Christmas in 1839 and spent his first twelve years in South Australia before travelling to Victoria early in 1852. In this illustrated lecture we will examine Gill’s life and a detailed examination of his oeuvre, which suggests quite a different construct to Gill’s biography from that which has been popularly accepted to date.

For more information please download the official Summer School Brochure.