About Rare Book School
The following is a course description from the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia in Charolettsville.
About Rare Book School.
Rare Book School (RBS) is an independent, non-profit and tax-exempt institute supporting the study of the history of books and printing and related subjects, governed by its own board of directors. Founded in 1983, it moved to its present home at the University of Virginia in 1992.
At various times during the year, RBS offers about 30 five-day, non-credit courses on topics concerning old and rare books, manuscripts, and special collections. The majority of courses take place in Charlottesville, but courses are also offered in New York City, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.
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.
Most Rare Book School courses are limited to twelve or fewer students, who make a full-time commitment to any course they attend, from 8:30 or 9 am through 5 pm, Monday - Friday; in Baltimore, Washington, and Charlottesville, most students also attend an informal dinner and orientation on the Sunday evening before their first class on Monday. In addition to the formal daytime classes, there is an optional early evening public lecture (usually on Monday night), and (especially in Charlottesville) other bookish events throughout the week of the RBS session.
Admission to RBS courses is on a rolling basis. The first round of admit decisions for each course is made three months before the course begins. Admission decisions are emailed to successful applicants, and admissions packets (containing an admission letter, a travel guide, and [for Baltimore and Charlottesville] a local map) are put into the US post. Applications received thereafter are processed immediately.
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C-20. Book Collecting
William P. Barlow, Jr. and Terry Belanger
This course is aimed at persons who spend a fairly substantial amount of time, energy, and money on collecting, but who feel rather isolated from the national (and international) antiquarian book communities. Topics include: the rationale of book collecting; developing relations with dealers; buying at auction and via the Internet; evaluating prices; bibliophile and friends' groups; preservation, conservation, and insurance options; tax and other financial implications; what finally to do with your books; and the literature of book collecting.
This course is intended for serious collectors who would like to learn more about the current American rare book scene: about the interlocking professional and social worlds of antiquarian book collecting, the rare book trade, and research librarianship. It is aimed at persons who collect energetically but who currently are not active members of bibliophilic social clubs and who do not participate to any great extent in library friends' organizations. The course will have at least something of a proselytizing bent (the instructors admit to being members of various social and scholarly bibliophilic and bibliographical organizations, as well as a good many library friends' groups; and they are well acquainted with a fair number of book dealers).
Among the questions the course will address: Why do we collect? How can I most effectively use the services provided by dealers, the Internet, auction houses and other agents? How do I know that a price is "right," and what should I do if it isn't? How can I best use bibliographies and other lists in my collecting? What kind of records should I keep? What can I do to preserve books on my own? When professional conservation is required, how do I find it? What should I do about insurance? What are the benefits of professional and bibliophilic organizations and cooperation with libraries and scholars? How should I dispose of my books? What are the tax and collecting implications of sale, gift, and bequest? How can I establish my own program for learning more about books and collecting?
In their personal statement, applicants should describe their book collections and their most active current collecting interests, and state what they would particularly like to see the course cover.
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