History of Books and Printing

Course addresses a number of fundamental questions in European cultural history centered on the book as both material as well as cultural and social object. Touching on a variety of different physical formats, the course explores questions of authorship, production, manufacture, distribution, and reading of books, as well as their restriction and periodic prohibition. The course makes use of the University's large special collections holdings and students carry out extended individual projects using these holdings. The final unit of the course is devoted to the fundamental changes in print culture being fostered by the Internet and hypertext, with examination in particular of the University of Michigan's evolving role in the novel enterprise of electronic book circulation.