November 24, 2008

Eighth Annual Book History Workshop

Registration has opened for the eighth annual Book History Workshop at Texas A&M, scheduled for May 17-22, 2009.

Taking place in the Cushing Memorial Library & Archives at Texas A&M, this five-day workshop offers an intensive, hands-on introduction to the history of books, with an emphasis on handpress-era printing and its allied technologies - typecasting, papermaking, bookbinding, and illustration.

One of the distinguishing elements of the workshop is its emphasis on experiential as well as academic learning.  Our days, divided into labs and more traditional seminar sessions, will involve both active projects and classroom discussions, using the Cushing Library's collection as examples.  Students will cast type in a hand mould, set lines of type and prepare them for printing, make paper, produce relief illustrations, and print on a period-accurate common press.

The workshop has traditionally attracted scholars, librarians, archivists, students, teachers, and collectors, as well as those pursuing personal interests in book history.

Past workshops have also featured a series of evening lectures by scholars active in the field of book history.  To register, find out more, or see photographs from previous workshops, go to: <http://cushing.library.tamu.edu/events/book-history-workshop>.

 

May 17, 2008

Friends President  Establishes Library Endowment

As president of the Friends of the Sterling C. Evans Library, Priscilla Letterman Meserole did more than conduct Board meetings.  She led the way by establishing a named endowment to benefit the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A&M University.  The Priscilla Letterman Meserole Endowment will fund programs and acquisitions that advance and benefit the Cushing Library which houses rare books, manuscripts, art and archives.  The endowment will fund lectures, exhibits, receptions, special programs, book and manuscript acquisitions, and other activities that highlight and support the growing collections of distinction at the Cushing Library.

“I have this deep and abiding appreciation for books and literature, especially rare volumes which require special attention and handling by skilled professionals such as those at Cushing Library,” explained Meserole, who spent her career working on the World Shakespeare Bibliography.“ I hope this endowment will help in displaying and promoting Cushing’s valuable research collections,” she added.

Colleen Cook, dean of the Texas A&M University Libraries, announced the gift during the May 17 Friends annual meeting at the Cavitt Mansion in Bryan.