Book Studies

living with others art book
Heyward, Carl. "Living with Others". San Francisco, 1987.
letterpress printed spiral text
Class with artists' books
Class with Artists' Books
printed text with moon etchings
Galileo Galilei. Sidereus Nuncius, 1610.
Presentation in the book arts lab
Ruhlman by Patricia Graham
Art book with cross stitch design
"Mending the Stars and Stripes", Jan Owen
papermaking
Students learn papermaking
Students sample paper made with phragmite fiber
Students sample paper made with phragmites

Book Studies at Wellesley

Book Studies at Wellesley consists of a number of collaborative scholarly enterprises that probe the history and future of the book, both as a vessel for the transmission of text and image and as evidence of material culture. In its broadest sense, book studies can be thought of as the study of the evolution of written communication, of which the “book” is only one part.  This emerging field is historic, contemporary, and interdisciplinary. It provides a framework to examine the social and political forces at work on the dissemination and reception of written, printed, and digital texts.