History of the Book: Dissemination and Production: The Progress of Information

This one-day conference hosted by the Institute of English Studies at the School of Advanced Studies, University of London, asks book historians to consider the dissemination of information both within and without the context of the codex. What defined essential information and prompted methods for its collection and dissemination? What forms of communication best served the dissemination of information that required secrecy? How did the rise of the codex promote or hinder the purveyance of cultural information in the ancient world? What forms of publication evolved to assist the communication of sensitive material? Who profited from these methodologies?

The conference opens at 6:30 on Friday, 3rd July with a Plenary Lecture by Professor Simon Eliot, 'Recasting Book History'. A wine reception will follow. The conference continues on Saturday, 4th July with a series of nine papers.

PROGRAMME

Friday 3 July
Chancellor's Hall, Senate House

18.30- 19.30:

Plenary lecture

Introduction: Professor Warwick Gould

Simon Eliot

Recasting Book History

This lecture (3 Jul) is free and open to all. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to IESEventssas.ac.uk

19.30-20.30

Wine reception

Saturday 4 July
Room 349, Senate House

10.00- 10.10: Registration
10.10-10.15: Welcome
10.15- 11.15:

Session 1:

Books as Purveyors of Information

Chair: Dr. Graham Foster, IES, SAS

Dr. Henry Irving, IES, SAS
'A New Kind of Book': Publishing and the Ministry of Information, 1939-46

Dr. Hannah Field, University of Lincoln
Visual, Verbal and Material Information in the Novelty Book for Children

11.15-11.45:
Refreshments

11.45-13.15:

Session 2:

Histories of Information

Chair: Professor Jane Roberts, IES, SAS

Professor Eleanor Robson, UCL
Information Flows in Rural Babylonia c. 1500 B.C.

Dr. Katharine Schopflin, UCL
The Encyclopaedia and the Codex: Pages, Margins and Entries

Dr. Courtnay Konshuh, University of Winchester
Creating Anglo-Saxon History Books

13.15- 14.30: Lunch
14.30- 15.30:

Session 3

Flows of Information and Reception

Chair: Dr. Carol Farr

Dr. Laura Cleaver, Trinity, Dublin
The Circulation of History in Twelfth-Century Normandy

Pamela Robinson, IES, SAS
Medieval Readers and the Reception of Aristotle

15.30- 16.00

Refreshments
16:00- 17:00

Session 4:

Books and Misinformation

Chair: Giles Mandelbrote, Librarian of Lambeth Palace Library

Jose Guevara, ILAS, SAS
Against the Tide of Diffusionism: A Critique of Euro-centric Perspectives on Book Studies in Colonial Hispanic America

Jessica Starr, IES, SAS
The Wonderful Discoveries: Early Stuart Pamphlet Culture and English Witch Hunts

17:00-17.05
Closing remarks

Dr Graham Foster

The conference (4 Jul) is £30 or £20 if you are an IES student or with concessions. This includes lunch and two coffee/tea breaks.

Registration for the conference can be found at the University of London online store: http://store.london.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=5&deptid=179&catid=31&prodid=912.

The conference webpage: http://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/HistoryBookConference.