ART 309/509:  Issues in Contemporary Art/Visual Art Seminar:
BOOK ARTS SURVEY

Course Description Prerequisites Requirements & Assignments Semester at a Glance Class Schedule & Assignments

Syllabus - Fall 2007

Instructor:  Max Yela
Class Time: Thursdays, 7:00 - 9:30 pm
Class Location: Special Collections, Fourth Floor - Golda Meir Library
Contact Info:
Phone  414-229-4345
Fax  414-229-6791
Email  maxyela@uwm.edu
Web  www.uwm.edu/Library/special
Class email reflector bkarts-07@uwm.edu
Office hours:  Wednesdays, 12:00 - 2:00 pm


Course Description

Through lectures, readings, discussions, guest presenters, and the use of materials from Special Collections in the UWM Libraries, this course will offer an introduction to the theory and practice of the book arts, i.e., the use of the book form as an expressive medium.  While the class includes studio visits and hands-on assignments, this is not a studio course.  For Visual Art majors, this course is intended to expose students to concepts in the book arts that they will encounter in graphic design, printmaking, 2D and 3D concepts, digital design, and photography.  It will also offer a fundamental curatorial foundation for understanding the place of book arts expression within the context of libraries and museums.  Book Arts Survey will demonstrate how contemporary book expression is firmly rooted in tradition, and how it has been energized and transformed during this period of digital incunabula.

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Prerequisites

Junior standing, or permission of the instructor.
Three Foundations courses, including one semester of Art Survey, or Art History 101 or 102. 

CLASS LIMIT:  25

Online Syllabus: http://www.uwm.edu/Library/special/currentevents/class/art309.htm

Electronic Reserve Readings: http://www.uwm.edu/Library/ERES/yela/ART309.html

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Requirements and Assignments

Required Text:

Bright, Betty.  No Longer Innocent: Book Art in America: 1960-1980.  New York: Granary Books, 2005.

Drucker, Johanna.  The Century of Artists' Books.  Revised edition.  New York: Granary Books, 2004.

LaPlantz, Shereen.  Cover to Cover: Creative Techniques for Making Beautiful Books, Journals & Albums.  Asheville, N.C.: Lark Books, 1995.

Smith, Keith A.  Structure of the Visual Book.  Expanded edition.  Rochester, N.Y.: K. Smith Books, 2003.

Assignments & Projects:

(20%) Readings, active discussions, & review of artists books in Special Collections (for graduate students:  additional readings and five scheduled, one-hour group meetings to discuss issues and review progress).
(20%) Response papers.*  1.)  3-5 page response two first reading assignment—Due Week 2 (Sept. 13).  2.)  3-5 page response to an artists-book exhibition—Due Week 6 (Oct. 11).  3.)  5-10-page response to artists books (topic examples:  compare/contrast different kinds of artists books; compare/contrast similar artists books; respond to the production of a single artist; discuss how theoretical applications you learned in class are used in artists books; etc.)—Due Week 7 (Oct. 18).
(10%) Attendance at the Ettinger Book Artist Series workshops and/or public lectures, with written responses (up to 5 pages)*-- Due the second class meeting following the Ettinger event (Lecture is Oct. 16, 7 pm in Special Collections)—Due Week 8 (Oct. 25).
(20%) Two-week experimental book project (project description and criteria to be discussed in class)—Due Week 9 (Nov. 1)
(10%) Take-home mid-term test*—handed out Week 10 (Nov. 9); Due Week 13 (Nov. 29).
(20%) Final Project:

Artist’s Book Project, with written statement*  Due Dec. 13.

                                   OR

10-page paper*—theoretical or observational.  Due Dec. 13.

* Requirements for all written assignments:  computer-generated, double-spaced, spell-checked, and proofread; no exceptions.  All written assignments may be submitted by email or in hardcopy.

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Semester at a Glance

Week 1 (Sept. 6)

Course introduction; Introduction to the book as art.

Week 2 (Sept 13)

Expression of the Book

Due:  Response paper to Drucker readings.

Week 3 (Sept. 20)

Structure and Meaning

In-class exercise: The Maze Book and The Flexagon.

Week 4 (Sept. 27)

Text in the Book Environment

In-class exercise:  Reading for textual form as expression.

Graduate Discussion #1:  What are the book arts?  What constitutes an artists book?  Are there parameters?

Week 5 (Oct. 4)

Demonstration of traditional binding techniques
Guest Lecturer:  Sharon Van Ruiswyk

Week 6 (Oct. 11)

Guest Lecturer:  Maria Pisano, “Book Artists’ Response to Death and Memory.”

Due:  Exhibition response papers.

Graduate Discussion #2:  Artists books in search of an audience.  Who reads them?  Who collects them?  What are the most appropriate venues?

Week 7 (Oct. 18)

Structures and Sequence
Guest Lecturer:  Lisa Moline

Ettinger Book Artist Series workshop and lecture:  Tuesday, October 16, 7 pm

Due:  Artists Book Response Paper.

Week 8 (Oct. 25)

Historical Origins; History of Reading

Due:  Pisano response paper.

Week 9 (Nov. 1)

Critiques.

DUE:  Experimental books

Week 10 (Nov. 8)

Artists Books in the Letterpress Tradition (including William Morris & the revival of the finely-made book.)

In-Class Video: A Thief Among the Angels: Barry Moser and the Making of the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible [55 min.].

Graduate Discussion #3:  Marketing and collecting artists books.  How does the artist reach her audience?  What strategies are used and which are most effective?  Why should an institution collect artists books? What are the criteria for collecting artists books in an institutional setting?

Week 11 (Nov. 15)

Letterpress Printing.  Meet in the Book Arts Workshop, Room 336, Fine Arts Building.

Guest Lecturer:  Sharon Van Ruiswyk, letterpress printer and independent professional bookbinder.

Week 12 (Nov. 22)  Non-letterpress artists books and livre d’artistes

In-Class Videos:  Beyond Words: The Marriage of Art & Literature in Bookmaking [28 min.], and Sasowsky, 99 Monotypes, Images and Reflections [11 min.].

Week 13 (Nov. 29)

Dada, Oulipo, Fluxus, Minimalism, Ed Ruscha, Photograph as Book, Altered Books

Guest Lecturer:  Lane Hall

DUE:  Mid-Term exam

Graduate Discussion #4:  Artists books as social and political action.

Week 14 (Dec. 6) The book arts in a digital age.

Guest Lecturer:  Anne Wysocki, Associate Professor, UWM Department of English

Week 15 (Dec. 13) Digital communication and the future of the book arts; Course assessment.

Due:  Final projects/papers

Graduate Discussion #5:  Book Arts futures; Graduate discussion decompression

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Class Schedule and Assignments

Note:  Readings preceded by two asterisks (**) are on Electronic Reserve under Yela; readings preceded by a cross (†) are in the Reserve Department, UWM Library, under Yela, Book Arts Survey.  Readings with Internet links may be found directly on the Web.  All other readings can be found and used in Special Collections.  Besides readings, all students must review the book works reserved for the class in Special Collections each week.


Week 1 (Sept. 6)
Course introduction; Introduction to the book as art

Assignment:  Write a 3-5 page critical response paper to the following reading: Drucker, The Century of Artist’s Books, pp. 1-19 (“The Artist’s Book as Idea and Form”), and pp. 357-364 (“Metaphor and Form:  The Artist’s Book in the 20th Century”); Due Sept. 13.

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Week 2 (Sept. 13)
Expression of the Book

Due:  Response paper to Drucker readings.

Readings:

  • Smith, Structure of the Visual Book, pp. 49-106 (“The Book as Physical Object”); pp. 211-221 (“Picture Relationships”); pp. 223-239 (“Journey”); pp. 241-292 (“Movement”).
  • Bright, No Longer Innocent, pp. xiii-xvi (“Foreword”); pp. 1-15 (“Introduction”); pp. 258-265 (“Conclusion”).

Additional Reading:

  • Drucker, The Century of Artist’s Books, pp. 257-285 (“The Book as Sequence:  Narrative and Non-Narrative Approaches”)

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Week 3 (Sept. 20)
Structure and Meaning

In-class exercise: The Maze Book and The Flexagon.

Readings:

  • Smith, Structure of the Visual Book, pp. 323-353 (“Structure and Composition”).
  • Drucker, The Century of Artist’s Books, pp. 121-157 (“The Codex and its Variations”); pp. 197-226 (“The Book as a Visual Form”).

Additional Readings:

  • Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books, pp. 227-256 (“Books as Verbal Exploration”)
  • **Hochuli & Kinross, Designing Books:  Practice and Theory, pp31-46; pp. 86-95; pp. 100-115

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Week 4 (Sept 27)
Text in the Book Environment

In-class exercise:  Reading for textual form as expression.

Assignment:  Visit and critically review at least one of the artists-book exhibits at UWM or elsewhere and write a 3-5 pp. response; Due October 11.

Readings:

  • Smith, Text in the Book Format, pp. 119-138 (“Accumulated Fragments”); pp. 295-311 (“Syntactical Pages”).

Additional Readings:

  • Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books, pp. 227-256 (“Books as Verbal Exploration”)
  • **Hochuli & Kinross, Designing Books:  Practice and Theory, pp31-46; pp. 86-95; pp. 100-115.

Graduate Discussion #1:  What are the book arts?  What constitutes an artists book?  Are there parameters?

Suggested Readings:

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Week 5 (Oct. 4)
Demonstration of traditional binding techniques

Guest Lecturer:  Sharon Van Ruiswyk, independent professional bookbinder.

Assignment:  Begin reviewing books for 5-10-page Artists Book Response Paper; Due October 18.

Readings:  Review the following manuals, especially the first one.

  • †Smith, Non-adhesive Binding (the first half focuses on traditional binding techniques; the second half on more experimental structures).
  • Smith & Jordan, Sewn and Pasted Cloth or Leather Book-Binding for Book Artists Requiring No Special Tools or Equipment.
  • †Zeier, Books, Boxes, and Portfolios: Binding, Construction, and Design Step-By-Step.

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Week 6 (Oct. 11)
Guest Lecturer:  Maria Pisano, New Jersey book artist and proprietor of Memory Press:  “Book Artists’ Response to Death and Memory.”

Due:  Exhibition response papers.

Assignment:  Attend Maria Pisano’s workshops and/or Ettinger Series lecture (Tuesday, October 16, 7 pm in Special Collections) and write a 3-5 pp. critical response paper covering all events attended; Due October 25.

Graduate Discussion #2:  Artists books in search of an audience.  Who reads them?  Who collects them?  What are the most appropriate venues?

Suggested Readings:

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Week 7 (Oct. 18)
Structures and Sequence

Guest Lecturer:  Lisa Moline, Associate Professor, Graphic Design, UWM Department of Visual Art.

Due:  Artists Book Response Paper.

Assignment:  Begin Experimental Book Project; Due November 1.

Readings:  Review the following manuals, especially the first one.

  • LaPlantz, Shereen.  Cover to Cover: Creative Techniques for Making Beautiful Books, Journals & Albums
  • Smith, Non-adhesive Binding (the first half focuses on traditional binding techniques; the second half on more experimental structures).
  • Harman, Unbinding the Book: The Boundless Concertina.
  • Harman, More Concertina Madness.
  • Smith & Jordan, Sewn and Pasted Cloth or Leather Book-Binding for Book Artists Requiring No Special Tools or Equipment.
  • †Zeier, Books, Boxes, and Portfolios: Binding, Construction, and Design Step-By-Step.
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Week 8 (Oct. 25)
Historical Origins; History of Reading

Due:  Pisano response paper.

Readings:

  • **Fischer, A History of Reading, pp. 82-97 ("Late Antiquity and Early Christianity"); pp. 141-150 ("The Early Middle Ages"); pp. 159-174 ("Silent Reading" and "The High Middle Ages").
  • **Selections from Illich, In the Vineyard of the Text, pp. 1-5 (all demarcated pages of Introduction).
  • **Klima, Artists Books, pp. 61-71 ("Reading the Book").

Additional Readings:

  • **Selections from Illich, In the Vineyard of the Text pp. 19-21 ("Lumen" in Chapter 1); pp. 35-45 ("The treasure chest in the reader's heart" through "Memory training as a prelude to wisdom," in Chapter 2); pp. 54-61 ("Communities of mumblers," through "Lectio as a way of life" in Chapter 3); pp 70-73 ("The Latin monopoly of letters" in Chapter 4); pp. 81-83 ("The flipping of the page" in Chapter 5); pp. 86-91 ("Silent reading" in Chapter 5); pp. 93-124 (all of Chapters 6 & 7).
  • **Olson, Fair and Varied Forms, pp 23-28 ("Structure in the Graphic Field" and "Contexts"); pp 29-32 ("The Print-culture Bias" and "Anglo-Saxon Attitudes toward Scribes, Illustrators, and the Visual"); pp. 58-63 ("Time and Space on the Manuscript Page").
  • **Saenger, Space Between Words, pp. 6-17 ("Ancient Readers and Unseparated Texts" and "Ancient Scriptura Continua").

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Week 9 (Nov. 1)
Critiques

Due:  Experimental Books

Readings:  
Typography:

Early Printing:

  • **Steinberg, Five Hundred Years of Printing, pp. 3-9; pp. 65-73.
  • **Cave, The Private Press, pp. 59-60 (paragraphs on Blake)
  • **Duncan, Doors of Perception, "The Art of the Printed Book," pp. 45-62

Additional Readings:

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Week 10 (Nov 8)
Artists Books in the Letterpress Tradition (including William Morris & the revival of the finely-made book.)

In-Class Video: A Thief Among the Angels: Barry Moser and the Making of the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible [55 min.].

Readings:

  • Bright, No Longer Innocent, Chapter 1, “Europe’s Legacy: The Fine Press Book,” pp 19-28; Chapter 2, “The Fine Press Book,” pp. 47-63; Chapter 6, “The 1960s: The Fine Press Book,” pp. 91-100; Chapter 10, “The 1970s: The Fine Press Book,” pp137-170.
  • **Cave, The Private Press, Chapter 11, "Printing as One of the Fine Arts: William Morris and the Kelmscott Press," pp. 103-112; Chapter 12, "After Kelmscott: The Fine Press in Britain," pp. 113-126; Chapter 13, "Morris in America," pp. 127-139; portion of Chapter 15, “Between the Wars in Britain I,” pp. 167-173; Chapter 20, "The United States Today," pp. 248-275.
  • **Morris, "A Note by William Morris on His Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press," from A Note by William Morris ..., pp. 1-6.
  • **Thompson, American Book Design and William Morris, Chapter V, "The Arts & Crafts Model," pp. 22-27.
  • **Hamady, Preface to Two Decades of Hamady and the Perishable Press Limited.

Additional Readings:

  • **Walker, "Printing," from Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society Catalogue (1888), pp. 90-94
  • **Cockerell, "A Short History and Description of the Kelmscott Press," from A Note by William Morris . . . ., pp. 7-20.
  • **Hansen, "Pulp and Possibilities: A Brief Look at Contemporary Paper Art," in Takahashi, Rags to Riches: 25 Years of Paper Art from Dieu Donné Papermill, pp. 13-21.
  • **Gosin, "Dieu Donné Papermill, 25 Years: The Sacred in the Commonplace," in Takahashi, Rags to Riches: 25 Years of Paper Art from Dieu Donné Papermill, pp. 22-34.
  • **Duncan, Doors of Perception, "The Technology of Hand Printing," pp. 21-43.

Graduate Discussion #3:  Marketing and collecting artists books.  How does the artist reach her audience?  What strategies are used and which are most effective?  Why should an institution collect artists books? What are the criteria for collecting artists books in an institutional setting?

Readings:

  • Bright, No Longer Innocent, “Collecting:  The Book as Art,” pp. 117-180; “Collecting the Anti-collectable Book,” pp. 193-195; “Private Collectiong: The Sackners,” pp. 195-198.
  • **Laxson, Ruth, "How to Market Your Artist's Book," in Art Papers, (v. 21, no. 6, Nov/Dec, 1997), p. 34. [currently working its way through Interlibrary Loan]--  **Dalberto, Janet.  “Collecting Artists’ Books.”  Drexel Library Quarterly (v. 19, no. 3, Summer 1983), pp. 78-90.

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Week 11 (Nov. 15)
Letterpress Printing.  Meet in the Book Arts Workshop, Room 336, Fine Arts Building.

Guest Lecturer:  Sharon Van Ruiswyk, letterpress printer and independent professional bookbinder.

Assignment:  Take-Home Mid-Term Test; Due Nov. 29.

Readings:

Additional Readings:

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Week 12 (Nov 20?)
Non-letterpress artists books and livre d’artistes

In-Class Videos:  Beyond Words: The Marriage of Art & Literature in Bookmaking [28 min.], and Sasowsky, 99 Monotypes, Images and Reflections [11 min.].

Assignment:  Begin Final Project/Paper

Readings:

  • Bright, No Longer Innocent, “Europe’s Legacy: The Deluxe Book; The Bookwork; Embodied Spaces; Book Dissemblings,” pp. 29-41; Chapter 3, “The Deluxe Book,” pp. 64-72; Chapter 7 “The 1960s: The Deluxe Book,” pp. 101-107; Chapter 11, “The 1970s: The Deluxe Book,” pp. 171-177
  • Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books, pp. 69-73 (“The Artist’s Book as a Democratic Principle”); pp. 83-88 (“Exemplars of the Genre”); pp. 93-120 (Chapter 5, “The Artist’s Book as a Rare and/or Auratic Object”); pp. 197-217 (“The Book as Visual Form”).
  • ** Johnson, Artists’ Books in the Modern Era 1870-2000, p. 17 and pp. 37-44.

Additional Readings:

  • Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books, pp. 161-196 (“Self-Reflexivity in Book Form”); pp. 257-285 (“The Book as Sequence:  Narrative and Non-Narrative”).
  • **Phillpot, “Some Contemporary Artists and Their Books,” in Lyons, Artists Books:  A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook, pp. 97-132.
  • **Bloch, “The Book Stripped Bare,” in Lyons, Artists Books:  A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook, pp. 133-147.

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Week 13 (Nov. 29)
Dada, Oulipo, Fluxus, Minimalism, Ed Ruscha, Photograph as Book, Altered Books

Guest Lecturer:  Lane Hall, book and digital artist, and Professor, UWM Department of English

DUE:  Mid-Term exams.

Readings:

  • Bright, No Longer Innocent, “The Readymade Book,” pp. 41-43; “The Sculptural Bookwork,” pp. 83-87; pp124-133; pp. 243-248; “The 1960s:  McLuhan and Benjamin; Ed Ruscha; The Dematerialized Book,” pp. 112-123; “Printed Matter and Franklin Furnace,” pp. 198-206; “Photography’s Face for the Multiple Bookwork; Visual Studies Workshop; The Copier as Printmaker; Alter-Aesthetics,” pp. 209-225.
  • **Hayles, Writing Machines, pp. 78-99 (Chapter 6, “A Humument as Technotext: Layered Topographies”).
  • **Phillpot, “Books by Artists and Books as Art,” in Lauf and Phillpot, Artist/Author: Contemporary Artists' Bookspp. 29-55.
  • **Wallis, “The Artist’s Book and Postmodernism,” in Lauf and Phillpot, Artist/Author: Contemporary Artists' Bookpp. 91-101.

Additional Readings:

  • **Rice, “Words and Images:  Artists’ Books as Visual Literature,” in Lyons, Artists Books:  A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook, pp. 59-85.
  • **Sweetman, “Photobookworks:  The Critical Realist Tradition,” in Lyons, Artists Books:  A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook, pp. 187-205.
  • **Rice, Shelley, “Parallel Lives: Artists’ Books and Photography,” in Afterimage (v. 13, no. 4, November 1985), pp. 6-7.
  • Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books, pp. 335-356 (“The Book as Document”).

Graduate Discussion #4:  Artists books as social and political action.

Readings:

  • Bright, No Longer Innocent, “Artists’ Books Personalize the Political,” pp. 231-236.
  • Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books, pp. 287-307 (“The Artist’s Book as an Agent of Social Change”)
  • †Heft, “GirlsIIWomen/Bookarts and the Journey of an Inner City Girl,” in The Journal of the Mid America Print Council, (v. 8, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2000), pp. 6-9.

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Week 14 (Dec. 2)

The Book Arts in a Digital Age

Guest Lecturer:  Anne Wysocki, Associate Professor, UWM Department of English

Readings:

  • **Braman, ”Why the Book?” in Journal of Communication, (v. 44, no. 1, Winter 1994), pp. 9-11.
  • **Hayles, Writing Machines, pp. 19-33 (Chapter 2, “Material Metaphors, Technotexts, and Media-Specific Analysis”), and pp, 101-107 (Chapter 7, “Embodiments of Material Metaphors”).
  • Drucker, "The Virtual Codex from Page Space to E-space," a lecture presented to the Syracuse University History of the Book Seminar, April 25, 2003, in The Book Arts Web, http://www.philobiblon.com/drucker/

Additional Reading:

  • **Drucker, “Artist’ Books and the Cultural Status of the Book,” in Journal of Communication, (v. 44, no. 1, Winter 1994), pp. 12-42.

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Week 15 (Dec. 11?)

Digital communication and the future of the book arts; Course assessment

Due:  Final projects/papers

Readings:

  • **Lovejoy, Postmodern Currents, Art and Artists in the Age of Electronic Media, pp. 154-167 and pp. 185-187 (selections from Chapter 5, “Art in the Age of Digital Simulation”).
  • **Levinson, Digital McLuhan, A Guide to the Information Millennium, pp. 105-118 (Chapter 9, “Way Cool Text”), pp. 145-157 (Chapter 12, “Beauty Machines”), pp. 173-186 (Chapter 14, “Through a Glass, Brightly”).
  • **Landow, “Twenty Minutes into the Future, Or How Are We Moving Beyond the Book?” in Nunberg, The Future of the Book, pp. 209-237.
  • Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books, pp. 357-364 (“Metaphor and Form:  The Artist’s Book in the 20th Century”).

Additional Reading:

  • **Bazin, “Toward Metareading,” in Nunberg, The Future of the Book, pp. 153-168.
  • **Eco, “Afterword,” in Nunberg, The Future of the Book, pp. 295-306.

Graduate Discussion #5: Book Arts futures; Graduate discussion decompression

Readings:

  • Miller, “Artists Books in the Future, Opportunities and Challenges,” in Discovering Artists Books, The art, the artist and the issues, http://www.goshen.edu/~theodoreb/discovering/artist.htm.
  • †Morin, “Finding a Place for Bookarts in Graphic Design,” in The Journal of the Mid America Print Council, (v. 8, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2000), pp. 10-12.
  • †Wilde, “Self-publishing is killing the entertainment industry and it’s about time!” in The Journal of the Mid America Print Council, (v. 8, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2000), pp. 13-16.
  • Ellenport, “The Future of Hand Bookbinding,” in The Book Arts Web, http://www.philobiblon.com/FutureOfHandBookbinding.htm
    **Zauft, “Conference Review: "Book Arts 2000 & Beyond," in JAB (Journal of Artists' Books) no. 13 (Spring 2000) p. 30-31.

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