Professor James Raven is a global authority on ‘the Book,’ with a Capital ‘B.’ From the materials and physical structures of the form, to how books have influenced people and places at contrasting times in history, to rare titles and the libraries that house them, he is an encyclopedic expert on the printed text.
During this two-day series, his first time presenting at CLS since 2002, Professor Raven will bring his formidable experience to bear, covering both the singular power of the Book as a vehicle for impact, and the topic as it relates to CLS specifically (he wrote the definitive history of the Library Society).
Copies of his titles, including a new update of his classic bibliophile bible, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book, will also be featured.
There are two ticket options for this program:
EVENING PROGRAM ONLY (Thursday, August 17) $30 // Admission to the lecture on Thursday, 6:00 PM–7:00 PM.
TWO-DAY SYMPOSIUM (Thursday, August 17 & Friday, August 18) – $130 // Admission to Thursday’s lecture, plus the extended session on Friday, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, which will include a boxed lunch.
About the Event:
Perhaps we think we know what a book is—it has a cover and a spine and it’s usually printed. It might be illustrated and it’s usually read, although sometimes not all the way through. But over many thousands of years, books have come in many different material forms and have served many different purposes.
In this richly illustrated two-day program, Professor Raven will take us from the earliest inscribed shells, stones, and clay tablets through to the modern digital age. This global journey invites comparisons between materials such as papyrus, bamboo, and plant leaves, and explores different ways of creating texts by writing, painting, imprinting, and digitizing.