The Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking is hosting a virtual talk and discussion series entitled “The Book: Past, Present, and Future.” The series explores the forms and purposes of books as methods of communication. Scholars with expertise in each aspect – what books and their use have been, how society uses books now, and the possibilities of the future – will share with audiences the origins and use of these objects.

Talk 1: “The Book: The Past”  

Tuesday, September 14, 2021, 8-9pm

Speaker: Dr. Nick Wilding, Georgia State University

Dr. Nick Wilding of Georgia State University will explore how books developed and were used over time. After Dr. Wilding's talk, program participants are invited to discuss how past use and production of books affected how we learn and document information.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-lecture-the-book-the-past-tickets-168324100917

Talk 2: “The Book: The Present” 

Tuesday, October 12, 2021, 8-9pm

Speaker: Dr. Jesse Erickson, University of Delaware

Dr. Jesse Erickson, Coordinator of Special Collections, Assistant Professor of English, and Associate Director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center at the University of Delaware, to understand how a familiar object- the book- has become an integral part of our lives and how libraries and special collections are navigating the changing world of publishing.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-lecture-the-book-the-present-tickets-168336479943

Talk 3: “The Book: The Future”

Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 8-9pm

Speaker: Dr. Sarah Werner, independent scholar, founder of Early Printed Books (https://www.earlyprintedbooks.com/)

E-readers, digitization, and the internet are changing the way people access books and content. In this lecture, The Book: The Future, Dr. Sarah Werner, an independent historian, will share how technological advances are allowing historic books to be utilized in new ways. After the talk, participants are invited to discuss the ways in which we use books may be different in the future.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-lecture-the-book-the-future-tickets-168341807879

The series is funded by a grant from the Georgia Humanities Council. All programs are free to attend from the comfort of your own living room!

Meet the scholars:

Sarah Werner

Sarah Werner is an independent scholar of book history, early modern culture, and digital media based in Washington DC. She is the author of the recently published Studying Early Printed Books 1450–1800: A Practical Guide and the newly launched EarlyPrintedBooks.com. In combination, the two works provide an introduction to how books were made in the hand-press period and how we can study them today, in person and online. She is also the author of articles on feminist printing history, digital First Folios, an overview of the connections between book history and digital studies, and numerous pieces on Shakespeare in performance, as well as the author of Shakespeare and Feminist Performance and co-editor of PBSA. More about her scholarship and her consultancy work can be found at https://sarahwerner.net.

Jesse R. Erickson, Ph.D., MLIS

Jesse R. Erickson is the Coordinator of Special Collections and Digital Humanities, Assistant Professor in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Associate Director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center at the University of Delaware. He previously worked as a bibliographic researcher and archival processor in the Manuscripts Division of the Charles E. Young Research Library and the Center for Oral History Research at the University of California, Los Angeles. He recently served as the Vice President for Programs for the American Printing History Association. Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of the University of Delaware Press and Publishing History, and he is the co-editor for the Papers of Bibliographical Society of America. His research specializations are in ethnobibliography, alternative printing, non-canonical textuality, African American print culture, and the transnational publishing history of the works of Ouida.

Nick Wilding

Nick Wilding is Professor of History at Georgia State University, where he teaches Early Modern history, the history of science, and the history of the book. He is the author of Galileo’s Idol: Gianfrancesco Sagredo and the Politics of Knowledge (Chicago University Press, 2014), Faussaire de Lune: Autopsie d’une Imposture, Galilée et ses contrefacteurs (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 2015) and a dozen research articles. He has held fellowships at Stanford, Cambridge, Columbia, the American Academy in Rome, the New York Academy of Medicine, the Cullman Center at the New York Public Library and the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography, Rare Book School. He currently serves on the Council of the Bibliographical Society of America and is a faculty member at Rare Book School. He received his B.A. in English from Oxford University, his M.A. in Renaissance Studies from the University of Warwick, and his PhD. in History from the European University Institute, Italy.