This course investigates the history of the “book” as physical object from its earliest forms (clay, bone or bamboo tablets, papyrus scrolls) through to texts in the digital age. Throughout the course, we will use materials from the Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library to explore forms of written media at first hand. We’ll explore handwritten books from ancient Greece and Rome through medieval manuscripts and early printed books to the present day. In the course of the class, we’ll investigate how texts were copied and where, how and why scripts and decoration/illustration developed, and changes in the form of the book and methods of book production through the ages. In the final part of the course, we’ll look at book forms and reading practices now, and discuss possibilities for the future of the book.
CLST 360: The History of the Book
