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Introduction to Bibliography from Gutenberg to Google Books

ENGL 574.401
instructor(s):
Thursday 12-3:00

This course introduces students to the theory and practice of bibliography, the study of the relationship of texts to their physical production and material forms. We will survey the history of textual production and reproduction from the beginning of hand-press printing in the 15th century to the contemporary digital moment, in order to understand what the particularities of these practices can teach us about how the texts we study came to be the way they are (to paraphrase Michael Suarez). Students will gain technical expertise and experience through a series of hands-on exercises in bibliographic analysis, textual criticism, and editing, but we will also emphasize a bibliographic "way of seeing" that can be brought to bear on literary criticism, cultural studies, and historiography, beyond the technical work of bibliography.

fulfills requirements