PV1A314 Book Culture in the Middle Ages and Modern Period

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Přemysl Bar, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jiří Dufka (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jiří Dufka
Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Olga Barová
Supplier department: Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Fri 10:00–11:40 L31
Prerequisites
The subject requires basic paleographic and language skills (German, Latin).
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 8/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce students to European book culture of the Middle Ages and the early modern period. There will be an emphasis on the material aspect of books, including the technical processes used to produce them, their internal contents and formal structure, and also the distribution and use of books and their social function. The development of books will be studied with regard to both manuscripts and printed books.
Learning outcomes
After completing the seminar, the student will be able to:
- work critically with a book as a source of material and spiritual culture;
- have a basic overview of research approaches in codicology and bibliology.
Syllabus
  • Book and written culture as cementing historical memory. The book as a bearer of information and cultural codes. A comparison with other historical sources. Book forms, ways of storing books.
  • Materials used in book production and the preparation of them.
  • The technology of writing and illumination, the technology of printing writing and images, handwritten and print fonts and their development.
  • Bookbinding - bookbinding, technology, typology and terminology. The book trade.
  • Book anatomy – the book and its parts.
  • The book as an intellectual entity. Book duplication, typesetting, and proofreading. The relationship between manuscript masters and print. The concept of authorship. Censorship. Manuscript language and print language; printing manuals, orthography.
  • The use and research of books. Provenance, user notes, secondary modifications of the book - bindings, trimming, fragments, damage and restoration of books. The history of reading and love of reading.
  • Libraries and their role (sources of information, records, books in the digital environment, the history of libraries, non-book formats in libraries).
  • Codicology and bibliology – the development of the disciplines, basic research questions, and publishing platforms, subject specific academic databases.
Literature
  • VOIT, Petr. Encyklopedie knihy : starší knihtisk a příbuzné obory mezi polovinou 15. a počátkem 19. století : papír, písmo a písmolijectví, knihtisk a jiné grafické techniky, tiskaři, nakladatelé, knihkupci, ilustrátoři a kartografové, literární. Druhé vydání. Praha: Libri ve spolupráci s Královskou kanonií premonstrátů na Strahově, 2008, Strana 656. ISBN 9788072773909. info
  • BOLDAN, Kamil. Počátek českého knihtisku. Vydání první. Praha: Scriptorium, 2018, 317 stran. ISBN 9788088013693. info
  • BOHATCOVÁ, Mirjam. Česká kniha v proměnách staletí. 1. vyd. Praha: Panorama, 1990, 622 s. ISBN 80-7038-131-0. info
  • RAVEN, James. What is the history of the book?. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2018. What is history? ISBN 978-0-7456-4162-1.
  • CORSTEN, Severin, Günther PFLUG, Friedrich Adolf SCHMIDT-KÜNSEMÜLLER a Stephan FÜSSEL, ed. Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens: LGB². Zweite, völlig neubearbeitete Auflage. Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 2016. ISBN 3-7772-8527-7.
  • PRAŽÁK, Jiří. Kodikologie, její postavení, metoda a úkoly. Studie o rukopisech XIII, 1974, s. 3–17.
  • HLAVÁČEK, Ivan. Knihy a knihovny v českém středověku. 2005. ISBN 80-246-0917-7. info
  • HLAVÁČEK, Ivan. Úvod do latinské kodikologie. 2. dopl. vyd. Praha: Karolinum, 1994, 96 s. ISBN 8070668830. info
  • DRAGOUN, Michal, Jindřich MAREK, Kamil BOLDAN and Milada STUDNIČKOVÁ. Knižní kultura českého středověku. Vydání první. Dolní Břežany: Scriptorium, 2020, 399 stran. ISBN 9788076490123. info
Teaching methods
In the introduction, the subject of the seminar will be defined and the importance of a thorough knowledge of book culture for interpretation within various disciplines. Individual aspects of book culture, terminology and research approaches will be demonstrated using specific samples from the archive collections of the Moravian Regional Library. In the latter part of the course, the partial knowledge students have acquired will be linked chronologically to the development of book culture, which will emphasise the interconnections with illustrative examples. The development of the book will be studied for both manuscripts and printed books.
Assessment methods
An oral exam on the material studied and the assigned literature.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
General note: Praktická část výuky bude probíhat v MZK.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/PV1A314