This course is intended as an introduction to the history of the western book to 1800. Please prepare yourself by doing some preliminary reading before you get to Charlottesville. Start with Frederick Kilgour's new Evolution of the Book (no.1), paying special attention to those early chapters treating the book before printing. Then on to Warren Chappell's Short History of the Printed Word (no.2); devour it all. Carter's ABC for Book Collectors (no. 3) is essential; read it cover to cover before you arrive. If you haven't had enough by this time, you may tackle the secondary reading list, preferably in the order given.

1. Kilgour, Frederick G. The Evolution of the Book. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. $35. Surveys the book's three discrete historical forms - clay tablet, papyrus roll, and codex - before turning to a fourth, still evolving, form, the cyber book.

2. Chappell, Warren. A Short History of the Printed Word. Boston: David R. Godine, 1980. A clear introduction to the technical aspects of early book production. Currently OP, but still widely available in libraries and used bookshops in either the hardbound or the paperbound version.

3. Carter, John. ABC for Book Collectors. 7th edn rev and with a new intro by Nicolas Barker. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books, 1994. $25 list/$17.50 Amazon hb. Dictionary format, but surprisingly readable as a book, nevertheless.

Suggestions for Additional Reading

4. Art of the Printed Book, 1455-1955: Masterpieces of Typography Through Five Centuries from the Collections of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, with an Essay by Joseph Blumenthal. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, and Boston: David R. Godine, 1973, several times reprinted. A survey of monuments in printing history, with an emphasis on book design and illustration. Currently OP, but available in many libraries.

5. Febvre, Lucien. The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450-1800; by Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin. 1976 (English translation). London: Verso Books, 1984, most recently reprinted 1997. $18.00 pb. Covers the transition from manuscripts to printed books from the perspectives of technology, trade, and intellectual history.

6. Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983, pb rep 1993 $13.95 list/$11.16 Amazon. Part II, a syncretistic view of printing that examines the invention within the broader context of European intellectual culture, is especially valuable.

7. Gascoigne, Bamber. How To Identify Prints; A Complete Guide To Manual and Mechanical Processes From Woodcut To Ink Jet. London, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1986 (and later reprints). $50 list/$35 Amazon. Excellent introduction to graphic arts processes and visual clues to identification.

8. Steinberg, S. H. Five Hundred Years of Printing. 4th edn, ed John Trevitt, (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 1996). $45 hb/$29.95 pb. Basic chronological history, considerably improved by its new large format.

9. Lawson, Alexander. Printing Types; An Introduction. Rev and expanded edn. Boston: Beacon Press, 1990. $14 pb. A clear introduction to typography.

Possible sources for your textbooks

This online version of this reading list has live links to Amazon.com for the in-print books.

Used copies of most of the books on this list are currently available on one or another of the Internet used/antiquarian book services, most easily accessed through http://www.bookfinder.com. And see also:

Oak Knoll Books, 414 Delaware Street, New Castle, DE 19720. Phone 1-800/996-2556; fax 302/328-7274; email oakknoll@oakknoll.com; URL http://www.oakknoll.com

The Veatchs Arts of the Book, PO Box 328, Northampton, MA 01060; telephone 413/584-1867; fax 413/584-2751; email veatchs@aol.com; URL http://www.veatchs.com

Colophon Book Shop, 117 Water Street, Exeter, NH 03833. Phone 603/772-8443; fax 603/772-3384; email cliska@aol.com

Dawson's Book Shop, 535 North Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004. Phone 213/665-8866; fax 213/469-9553; email dawsons@netcom.com; URL http://www.dawsonbooks.com

Pierpont Morgan Library Book Shop, 29 East 36th St, New York, NY 10016. Phone: 212/685-0008