Rare Book School (RBS) is an independent, non-profit, tax-exempt institute supporting the study of the history of books and printing and related subjects. Founded at the Columbia University School of Library Service in 1983, the school moved to its present home at the University of Virginia in 1992. RBS anually offers about 35 non-credit courses for adults (divided over seven or eight five-day sessions held in January, March, and June-August) on topics concerning old and rare books, manuscripts, and special collections. About 300 students attend RBS courses each year. Most members of the school's faculty are internationally known experts in the subjects they teach, and RBS's reputation for providing continuing education courses of unusually high quality is well established.
The educational and professional prerequisites for RBS courses vary. Some courses are broadly directed toward antiquarian booksellers, book collectors, bookbinders, conservators, teachers, and professional and avocational students of the history of books and printing. Others are primarily intended for archivists and for research and rare book librarians and curators.
Terry Belanger founded RBS in 1983 at Columbia University under the aegis of the Book Arts Press (BAP), the bibliographical laboratory he established at the School of Library Service in 1972 to support the study of the history of the book. The first RBS offered eight five-day courses on subjects similar to those still offered today S similar and, indeed, in some case identical: seven of the fifteen living RBS 1983 instructors (Sue Allen, Nicolas Barker, TB, Christopher Clarkson, Paul Needham, Daniel Traister, and Michael Winship) still regularly teach in the institute. The eight original courses (two courses per week held over a four-week period) were all team-taught, because TB was then under the impression that no single instructor could teach a highly specialized subject, six hours a day, for five days straight.
RBS 1983 was a considerable success: with [8 x 15 =] 120 places available, 112 students attended. Our lion (derived from an early c 19 watermark) made his first appearance as a trademark at RBS 1984, which expanded to 20 courses. Over the years, the institute has prospered, primarily because of the willingness of its distinguished faculty members to return, year after year, to teach.
In 1992, RBS moved from New York to the University of Virginia, where some of the BAP's teaching collections are almost always on display in the Dome Room of the Rotunda on The Lawn, on the central grounds of the University. These collections have grown enormously in recent years, in large part thanks to the generosity of the RBS's 800-member support group, the Friends of Rare Book School.
Over the years, a typical RBS student experience has emerged. (Most RBS students are, of course, not students: they tend to be working professionals who typically have students of their own, back home.) RBS attendees usually enroll for a single course in any given year. They generally arrive on Sunday in time for housing check-in, a tour of the Grounds, registration, a reception, and an opening dinner followed by a welcome and orientation by the school's director. Classes begin on Monday morning; each day is divided into four 90-minute classroom sessions punctuated by lunch and by half-hour morning and afternoon coffee breaks. The intensity of RBS coffee breaks must be observed to be believed. At six pm on Monday evenings, there is a public lecture on a subject of bookish interest, followed by a reception. Tuesday is usually Bookseller Night, with students encouraged to visit local used and antiquarian bookshops, and take advantage of Charlottesville's many excellent restaurants. Wednesday and Thursday are Museum nights, in which selections from the school's remarkable teaching collections are set out in structured displays for student inspection and use, with guidance from members of the RBS program staff. Most of the faculty members in residence generally attend these evening events.
Classes end on Friday with evaluations (a very important part of the RBS week) followed by a closing reception. Most students stay in residence at least over Friday night (they may use RBS housing as long as they wish), in part to avoid the annoyances inherent in Friday evening travel, and in part to have a final dinner with new and old friends and acquaintances: more than half of RBS students in any given week are likely to be returnees from previous years.
In striving for excellence, it is not always possible to be comfortable; still, RBS tries very hard indeed to offer its faculty and students alike an experience that is both worthwhile and enjoyable. We were pleased by a comment in a course evaluation that described Rare Book School as "an intellectual Hawaii."
Of the 40 courses in the current RBS catalog, 25 are offered at least once each year; 13 courses are offered every other year; and two courses are offered every third or fourth year. The following courses are currently offered at RBS:
Binding
B-10. Introduction to the History of Bookbinding (Jan Storm van Leeuwen)
B-40. Medieval and Early Renaissance Bookbinding Structures (Christopher Clarkson)
B-60. European Bookbinding, 1500-1800 (Nicholas Pickwoad)
B-90. Publishers' Bookbindings, 1830-1910 (Sue Allen)
Collecting and Collection Management
C-70. Collecting the History of Anglo-American Law (Morris L Cohen and David Warrington)
C-80. Artists' Books: Strategies for Collecting (Johanna Drucker)
General: Descriptive and Textual Bibliography
G-10. Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography (Terry Belanger and Richard Noble)
G-50. Advanced Descriptive Bibliography (Richard Noble)
G-60. Introduction to c 15 Printing (Paul Needham)
History
H-10. The History of the Book, 200-2000 (John Buchtel and Mark Dimunation)
H-15. The History of the Book in America (Michael Winship)
H-20. The Book in the Manuscript Era (Barbara Shailor)
H-30. The Printed Book in the West to 1800 (Martin Antonetti)
H-40. The Printed Book in the West since 1800 (Eric Holzenberg)
H-45. Printing, Publishing, and Consuming Texts in Britain and Its Empire, 1770-1919 (Simon Eliot)
H-50. The American Book in the Industrial Era, 1820-1940 (Michael Winship)
H-55. The Music of America on Paper (D W Krummel)
H-60. History of European and American Papermaking (Timothy Barrett and John Bidwell)
H-65. Introduction to the History and Preservation of Maps (David Woodward)
H-90. Teaching the History of the Book (Terry Belanger and Daniel Traister)
Illustration and Printing Processes
I-10. Introduction to the History of Illustration (instructor TBA)
I-20. Book Illustration Processes to 1890 (Terry Belanger)
I-80. Japanese Printmaking, 1615-1868 (Sandy Kita)
Libraries, Archives, and Electronic Resources
L-10. Introduction to Special Collections Librarianship (Alice Schreyer)
L-30. Rare Book Cataloging (Deborah Leslie)
L-40. Visual Materials Cataloging (Helena Zinkham)
L-50. Seminar in Special Collections Administration (Samuel A Streit and Merrily E Taylor)
L-55. Donor Relations (William P Barlow, Jr and TBA)
L-70. Electronic Texts and Images (David Seaman)
L-75. Electronic Texts in XML (Daniel Pitti)
L-80. Implementing Encoded Archival Description (Daniel Pitti)
L-85. Publishing EAD Finding Aids (David Seaman, with Matthew Gilman and Christine Ruotolo)
Manuscripts
M-20. Introduction to Codicology (Albert Derolez)
M-40. Introduction to Latin Paleography, 1100-1500 (Albert Derolez)
M-50. Introduction to Illuminated Manuscripts (Roger E. Wieck)
M-80. Introduction to European Handwriting (Nicolas Barker)
Typography and Book Design
T-10. Introduction to the History of Typography (Stan Nelson)
T-50. Type, Lettering, and Calligraphy, 1450-1830 (James Mosley)
T-55. Type, Lettering, and Calligraphy, 1830-1940 (James Mosley)
T-70. Printing Design and Publication (Greer Allen)
RBS is currently staffed by a full time director (TB) and two full-time staff members: Jolene Kidd (Assistant Director for Administration) and Michael Kidd (Assistant Director for Programs). John Buchtel serves as half-time Curator of Collections, 1 and Mary Creed is the part-time systems consultant, with primary responsibility for our Microsoft Access databases. When RBS is in session (seven or eight weeks per year), the full time FTE goes up, in large sessions to about 12 FTEs.
The school occupies about 2000 square feet in five classrooms and offices on the first floor of Alderman Library. It also has about 1000 square feet of storage space on the first floor and in the basement of Alderman, as well as additional space in the radiating bookcases in the Dome Room of UVa's Rotunda, the principal building of the University (the Dome Room serves as RBS's exhibition venue). When in session, the school uses various UVa classrooms in the Alderman and Clemons Libraries and elsewhere within walking distance on the central Grounds of the University. RBS courses make heavy use of UVa's special collections. For a detailed description of RBS's own teaching resources, see a copy of the 60-page pamphlet, Rare Book School Index and Location Guide to RBS's Teaching Collections (copies to be distributed at the 10-11 November meeting).
RBS's current budget is about $500,000 year. Income is derived from three principal sources: tuition (about $220,000/year); UVa direct subsidies (about $200,000/year), 2 and cash gifts from the Friends of Rare Book School (about $80,000/year).
Enrollment. There were about 310 participants in RBS in 2003 (31 courses in seven sessions) and 350 participants in 2002 (35 courses in eight sessions). In recent years, these figures have been relatively stable. Since the school's founding in 1983, there have been about 3000 different participants at the school, taking a total of about 5000 courses.
Fees. The tuition per course in 2004 will be $795. In 2003, the tuition was $775.
Faculty tenure. Currently there are 40 RBS faculty members; the average RBS faculty member has been teaching at the school for just over 11 years. There is no formal tenure at RBS.
Evaluations. Detailed student evaluations of all RBS courses offered since 1995 are available on the school's Web site at http://www.rarebookschool.org. Each of these remarkably revealing prose evaluations generally run to about 1500 words; thus (for example) for Daniel Pitti's course, "Implementing EAD," offered 11 times at RBS since 1997, there are 11 separate evaluations currently available on the Web site totaling about 20,000 words.
Recent publicity. A story by Jacki Lyden on the school was aired on NPR's "All Things Considered" on 10 August 2003 (to hear the audio stream, follow the link in the first prose paragraph on the RBS Web site's home page: http://www.rarebookschool.org).
RBS is governed by a self-perpetuating board of directors. Members of the board currently are as follows:
CHAIR: Tausig , Mr Hans E. Queens: 112-01 Queens Boulevard (11-C), Forest Hills NY 11375.First term as director ends 2004.
VICE CHAIR: Herdrich , Mr Peter. Wk: Senior Producer, Inside Edition, 555 West 57th Street (13th floor), New York NY 10019. First term as director ends 2004.
SECRETARY: Lynch , Dr Beverly P. Wk: Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, UCLA, 3026 Moore Hall - Box 951521, Los Angeles CA 90095-1521.First term as director ends 2005.
TREASURER: Barlow , Jr, Mr William P. Wk: Partner, Barlow & Hughan, 1182 Market Street (400), San Francisco, CA 94102. First term as director ends 2006.
PRESIDENT: Belanger , Terry. University Professor, University of Virginia, 114 Alderman Library, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Ex officio.
Buice , William T. Partner, Davidson, Dawson & Clark, 330 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017. First term as director ends 2006.
Dunlap , Ms Ellen S. Wk: President, American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester MA 01609. Second term as director ends 2007.
Gross , Robert A. Wk: James L. and Shirley A. Draper Professor of Early American History, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Will join the board in January 2004.
Rendell , Mr Kenneth W. Wk: President, Kenneth W Rendell Gallery, Inc., PO Box 9001, Wellesley MA 02181-9001. First term as director ends 2005.
Schreyer , Alice D. Director, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago, 1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637. Will join the board in January 2004.
Wittenborg , Karin. University Librarian, University of Virginia, PO Box 400114, 524 Alderman Library, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4114. First term as director ends 2006.
2 UVa pays for TB's and Jolene Kidd's salaries and fringe benefits, and makes a contribution towards communications costs. Michael Kidd's salary and fringe benefits are paid out of RBS income.