"Comparative Histories of the Book"
Bibliography among the Disciplines Conference
12–15 October 2017, Philadelphia, PA
What is a book? How is it read and by whom? Where is it stored or displayed? What constitutes its worth? Answers to such questions are manifold, varying not only over time and by location, but also among the askers. Vessels of knowledge and vehicles of communication, books serve as a point of contact among the disciplines; their histories of mutual concern. Material artifacts, their physical and aesthetic forms are of interest to object-oriented fields of study. Humanists, scientists, curators, conservators, collectors, librarians, and archivists approach books with their own questions and tools of investigation. Their diverse modes of interrogation yield different kinds of information, yet these distinct insights often remain unshared, siloed within the communities to which investigators belong. This session posits that multiple histories invigorate methodologies and are especially essential to understanding books. We seek individually or collaboratively authored papers at disciplinary, cultural, and professional crossroads that explicitly consider the implications of comparative practices, as well as the mechanics of such work. Papers will be pre-circulated, and participants will give five-minute summary presentations at the conference.

Please submit a proposal of no more than 500 words by 25 October 2016 at: rarebookschool.org/bibliography-conference-papers

Feel free to contact session organizers Megan C. McNamee (meganmcnameegmail.com) and/or Caroline Wigginton (cwiggintolemiss.edu) with questions.

"Bibliography among the Disciplines," a four-day international conference, will bring together scholarly professionals poised to address current problems pertaining to the study of textual artifacts that cross scholarly, pedagogical, professional, and curatorial domains. The conference will explore theories and methods common to the object-oriented disciplines, such as anthropology and archaeology, but new to bibliography. The program aims to promote focused cross-disciplinary exchange and future scholarly collaborations. Bibliography Among the Disciplines is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and organized by the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School. For more information, please visit: rarebookschool.org/bibliography-conference-2017.