The work of a literary scholar may be divided into two main areas: bibliographic and analytical. Bibliographic work provides valuable and necessary information about literary texts: who wrote them, when and where they were written and published, what they contain and in what format, how they were received, etc. Analytical work involves studying a work to make a critical argument about its form, meaning, cultural or historical significance, or relation to other texts and traditions. We typically teach, require, and valorize the critical essay. This composition invites you to appreciate the importance—and challenge—of bibliography by asking you to research and write a bibliographic essay about an illuminated book in the Rare Books Room (1000 words max).
Due Dates
- Post essay to website (category = bibliographic essay) by Monday, Feb. 8, by midnight.
- Post comments on your peer critique group‘s essays by Wednesday, Feb. 10, at midnight. Include a “selfie” comment evaluating your own essay as if it was written by another student in your peer critique group.
Goal
Assume the role of the bibliographer: compile metadata about your book and then tell its story.
Background on Analytical Bibliography (by Sharon Byrd)
Analytical (or Physical) Bibliography is the physical examination of documents using the evidence they provide to illuminate the circumstances of their composition, production and distribution. The three types of analytical bibliography are:
- Historical Bibliography: The study of the history of paper, type, printing practices, publishing, illustration, binding, and book distribution.
- Descriptive Bibliography: The detailed physical description of printed documents, i.e. their format, collation, paper, type, printing, illustration, and binding, and their publication and distribution history.
- Textual Bibliography: The study of a text’s transmission from manuscript to initial publication to later printings; also the scholarly editing of texts.
(Adapted from the definitions provided with the DVD “Anatomy of a Book.”)
For this essay, you will be looking primarily at numbers 1 and 2. In looking at the physical nature of the book you’ve chosen you will want to look at the following, remembering that not all books will contain all of these components.
- Title Page: including title, author, illustrator, translator, publisher, place, date, edition, copyright information, illustrations, information on the type/font, printers imprint. [Some of this information may be on the recto (front) of the title page, and some may be on the verso (back) of the title page.]
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Table of Contents
- Advertisement (List of other works by the publisher or author.)
- Colophon (A note at the end of a book, often with a device or mark and sometimes giving printing information, particularly for limited editions.)
- Body of book: pagination, collation, size, arrangement (chapters, etc.), use of blank pages, illustrations.
- Binding
- Endpapers/edges
Other things to include might be:
- Whether the press is a commercial or private press.
- Full descriptions of the illustrations.
- Information on the paper, particularly hand-made paper.
- Biographical information about the author(s) and illustrator(s).
- Something unique to that individual book (autograph, ownership mark, bookplate, etc.)
- Information about the # of copies printed (circulation)
- Price at publication
- Value today
- Information about the intended audience.
For help with descriptive terms see ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 1995. There is a copy in the reference stacks (Z1006 .C37 2004) and a pdf online.
Description
Choose an illuminated text in the Rare Book Room. As a bibliographer, your job is to answer “who, what, where, when, why, and how” questions in order to help your readers understand the physical make-up of the book, its content, and its significance.
Gather as much information as you can about the material object: its dimensions, shape, binding, typeface, ink, paper quality, author(s), illustrator(s), place and date of publication, history of owners, etc… These facts constitute your “metadata.” To find precise terminology to describe your book, use the ABC for Book Collectors (also in the reference stacks, Z1006 .C37 2004).
Create a post (category= bibliographic essay). Include at least one image of your book and provide as much of the following information (metadata) as you can:
- Title
- Author
- Illustrator
- Translator
- Publisher (and location)
- Date of publication
- Edition
- Physical Description
- If you read me the description, I should be able to visual the book and even sketch it out for you (try this with a friend). Use precise technical vocabulary AND define the terms (e.g., the pages have deckled edges at the bottom; that is, they appear to have a torn but even edge). Also include ekphrastic descriptions of all illustrations and any other visual effects such as borders, calligraphy, and fonts (name the font, if possible).
- Biographies of the makers
- Provide brief biographies of author(s) and illustrator(s). You may find it helpful to use the library’s subscription databases for biographical information. The Dictionary of Literary Biography is also a good source. (Hint: don’t rely on Google; instead, ask your awesome librarians for help!)
- Provide brief biographies of author(s) and illustrator(s). You may find it helpful to use the library’s subscription databases for biographical information. The Dictionary of Literary Biography is also a good source. (Hint: don’t rely on Google; instead, ask your awesome librarians for help!)
- History of the book:
- Find out about when, why, and who designed the book, for whom. You could consider historical context, identify audience, figure out who commissioned the book, etc… Offer a concise history of the book, from initial inception to publication.
After you have listed this information (in simple report style), provide a critical commentary (in narrative form). In other words, tell your book’s story. Of course, every book tells a thousand stories, so your job is to hone in on the story that most interests you, whether it concerns the physical form, author(s), illustrator(s), collaboration between author and illustrator, publication history, text, illustrations, interactions between text and illustrations, or something else.
Like any critical essay, your critical commentary should have a specific focus. Don’t try to analyze everything. Instead, make a lively, well-evidenced argument about the book’s significance as a material object or verbal/visual text. You are encouraged but not required include other critics, theorists, and/or historians in your critical commentary.
Conclude your bibliographic essay with an MLA Style list of Works Cited and Consulted.
Remember to comment on the essays of everyone in your peer critique group, including yourself. Follow the How to Comment instructions, and use the wade, snorkel, or scuba dive criteria to evaluate the essay as a whole.
Final Note
Your book may inspire you with creative ideas about new ways to combine words and images. That’s good. These ideas may inform this bibliographic essay, or you may store them away to apply to your self-designed, hybrid project.
Since you are working as a bibliographer in this assignment, it may not be the best place to get really creative about HOW you present your findings. Think about how best to communicate information about your book to your audience, not how best to display your own creativity. But remember, it still takes creativity to communication information successfully!
Recent Comments