Rare Book School

DEADLINES & REMINDERS

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The 2013 application is now available. Please visit our Application & Admissions page to get started. Applicants will receive an email confirmation upon submission. If you do not receive an email, contact rbs_programs@virginia.edu.

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Students Get Up Close and Personal with Rare Books
by Sandy Hausman

Preserving Pages in Charlottesville
by Jacki Lyden

Still Accepting Applications for Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship

[5 March 2013] The Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship is a full-tuition scholarship opportunity that is available to all antiquarian booksellers interested in taking Joel Silver’s course, Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books (L-25), at RBS in Charlottesville, Virginia. One Tavistock Scholarship will be awarded in 2013. Preference will be given to individuals in the early stages of their careers and to those who would not otherwise be able to attend RBS without scholarship assistance.

To apply for the Tavistock scholarship, please submit a 2013 summer application to RBS no later than 1 April 2013. In a cover letter, discuss your reasons for applying for the scholarship to attend "Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books"; please include a brief description of your work in the antiquarian book trade, financial needs, and other relevant information. While not required, a recommendation letter from an ABAA member to accompany the application would be beneficial. Scholarship applicants will be notified of decisions by 30 April 2013.

RBS Now Accepting Submissions for "Why Books Matter" Competition

[31 January 2013] “Why Books Matter” is a University-wide competition open to all UVA students who wish to explore the changing nature of textual media, and who envision new approaches to engaging with books as physical objects. The competition celebrates Rare Book School’s twentieth anniversary on Grounds, and is meant to promote research and design related to the book, broadly conceived—that is, any recorded text, including manuscript, printed, and digital media. Its substantial prizes—ranging from $500 to $1,500—are meant to recognize UVA’s ongoing commitment to innovative research and design relating to books.

Students may submit projects in one of three categories: Essays; Fine Arts; and Science, Technology & Entrepreneurship. The deadline for submissions has been extended to 15 March 2013. The submission form, along with competition details, is now available on our "Why Books Matter" page.

Exhibition Tours for "Turning the Page: Technology & Innovation in Nineteenth-Century Books"

[30 January 2013] RBS is pleased to announce the gallery tours of the exhibition "Turning the Page: Technology & Innovation in c19 Books," from 10 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 30, February 13, and February 27. Gallery tours will last approximately 15 to 20 minutes and are open to the public.

"Turning the Page" is an exhibition that explores the relationship between new technologies and the rise of modern mass media in the nineteenth century. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, books were still manufactured using many of the same craft skills and techniques used since the introduction of moveable type in the fifteenth century. By the end of the 1800s, the book had changed from a largely handmade object to a mass-produced industrial product. This exhibition showcases the technological innovations that helped to transform book manufacture. Highlighted in each case are advances in papermaking, printing, binding, and illustration processes, all of which contributed to a century-long quest to make books more quickly, more cheaply, and in greater numbers than ever before.

This exhibition has been made possible by Rare Book School and The Jefferson Trust, an initiative of the UVA Alumni Association, as part of the “Why Books Matter” Exhibition Series, celebrating Rare Book School’s twentieth anniversary on Grounds.

For more information about the exhibition, please contact the exhibition's curator, Elizabeth Ott, at elo2be@virginia.edu.

RBS Launches Its New Online Application System

[22 January 2013] RBS is pleased to announce myRBS, a new customized web application developed for every member of the RBS community. Through myRBS, you will be able to apply for a course, gain access to and edit your contact information, view your course history and Friend status, and more! More details here...

2012 Scholarship Awards Announced

[19 December 2012] Rare Book School is pleased to announce the winners of its 2012 Scholarship Committee awards. Congratulations to all! See the list of winners here...

RBS Announces Its 2013 Course Schedule

[31 October 2012] RBS is excited to announce its course schedule for 2013, a double-anniversary—30 years in operation and 20 years at the University of Virginia! This year's schedule includes some major expansions, featuring the addition of several new courses and new host venues, including Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania. See the full schedule here.

Julia Miller to Give Clay Lecture and Seminar on 24 and 25 October

[11 October 2012] RBS is pleased to announce its upcoming Clay lecture and seminar, to be delivered by Julia Miller, book conservator and independent scholar, on Wednesday, 24 October and Thursday, 25 October. Both events are free and open to the public, although space in the seminar is limited. More details here...

New Mellon Fellowship Program at Rare Book School

[1 October 2012] Rare Book School has been awarded a grant in the amount of $896,000 from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a new fellowship program, The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography. The aim of the program is to reinvigorate bibliographical studies within the humanities by introducing doctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty to specialized skills, methods, and professional networks for conducting advanced research with material texts. Fellows will receive funding for RBS course attendance, as well as generous stipends, and support for research-related travel to special collections, over the course of three years. The deadline for application to the program is December 1, 2012. Interested scholars are encouraged to apply as soon as possible; see the RBS-Mellon Fellowship page for more details. View press release.

RBS Faculty Member Tom Congalton Elected President of ILAB

Photo courtesy ilab.org

[25 September 2012] The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has elected Tom Congalton as its new president in a unanimous vote. Congalton has taught at RBS since 2008, where he co-teaches The Printed Book since 1800: Description & Analysis with Katherine Reagan.

Now Accepting Applications for RBS 2012 Scholarships

[17 September 2012] Please check the Rare Book School Scholarships page for the newly updated application form for the 2012 scholarship cycle. The application deadline for 2012 is October 15.

RBS Director Michael Suarez Helps Launch OSEO in Oxford

[7 September 2012] See this short video to learn more:

Rare Book School featured in The New York Times

[24 June 2012] Rare Book School is featured in today's New York Times—the lead article in the Arts section!

If you like Jennifer Schuessler's piece as much as we do, we think you'll love our eight-minute video:

2013/14 Yale Law Library Rare Book Fellowship

[8 October 2013] The Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School is pleased to announce a Rare Book Fellowship to train the next generation of rare book librarians. We encourage applications from recent graduates and from those who are about to finish a degree in library science...Full Story

FABS Announces Essay Competition

[18 September 2012] The Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS) announces "American Book Collectors & Collecting from 1940 to the Present," an essay competition with a $1000 award for an original essay of 3000 to 4000 words by a writer aged 30 years or younger...Full Story

Call for Papers: 21st Annual SHARP Conference in Philadelphia

[16 September 2012] The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) invites submissions for its 21st annual conference, to be held in Philadelphia from July 18-21, 2013. The program will take place primarily on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania...Full Story