RBS faculty member Paul Needham (Princeton Univ.) gave a public lecture on "The Catholicon Press Revisited: The Evidence of Nailheads" on 29 July 2025. You can watch the full recording of the lecture on YouTube at https://youtu.be/o4aMEB38slw?feature=shared.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ธ:
The ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ, whose colophon states that it was printed in Mainz, 1460, has been the subject of controversy for more than fifty years. Paul Needham argues that it was printed from thin two-line stereotypes, used for three typographically identical impressions, dating to 1460, 1469, and 1472-73. Others maintain that it was printed directly from movable types, like all other incunables; that the colophon date is wrong; and that all copies were printed in 1469. Needham, working with Eric White, has recently discovered new evidence which strongly supports the stereotype hypothesis.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ:
Paul Needham became Scheide Librarian at Princeton University in 1998 and retired in 2020. Before coming to Princeton, he worked at Sothebyโs and at the Pierpont Morgan Library. Among his books is ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: 400โ1600 (1979). He has given Rare Book School courses on early printed books both at the Morgan and at the Huntington.
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RBS faculty member Paul Needham (Princeton Univ.) gave a public lecture on "The Catholicon Press Revisited: The Evidence of Nailheads" on 29 July 2025. You can watch the full recording of the lecture on YouTube at https://youtu.be/o4aMEB38slw?feature=shared.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ธ:
The ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ, whose colophon states that it was printed in Mainz, 1460, has been the subject of controversy for more than fifty years. Paul Needham argues that it was printed from thin two-line stereotypes, used for three typographically identical impressions, dating to 1460, 1469, and 1472-73. Others maintain that it was printed directly from movable types, like all other incunables; that the colophon date is wrong; and that all copies were printed in 1469. Needham, working with Eric White, has recently discovered new evidence which strongly supports the stereotype hypothesis.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ:
Paul Needham became Scheide Librarian at Princeton University in 1998 and retired in 2020. Before coming to Princeton, he worked at Sothebyโs and at the Pierpont Morgan Library. Among his books is ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: 400โ1600 (1979). He has given Rare Book School courses on early printed books both at the Morgan and at the Huntington.
Christopher N. Warren, "What Is Computational Bibliography?" Malkin Lecture, 30 July 2025
Rare Book School
1 hour 4 minutes 6 seconds
3 months ago
Christopher N. Warren, "What Is Computational Bibliography?" Malkin Lecture, 30 July 2025
Christopher N. Warren delivered the 2025 Sol M. and Mary Ann OโBrian Malkin Lecture, โWhat is Computational Bibliography?โ, on 30 July 2025. You can watch the full recording of the lecture on YouTube at https://youtu.be/ElvNacFyoWQ?feature=shared.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ธ:
Book historians have long faced a methodological dilemma. Do we want to study particular material objects in granular detail, or are we primarily concerned with more general patterns connected to larger questions about politics, economics, censorship regimes, or ideology? While not strictly mutually exclusive, these two approaches nevertheless exist in tension, and scholars frequently orient themselves toward one side or the other. In this talk, Christopher N. Warren will explore how the new field of computational bibliography is helping to resolve this dilemma through its ability to connect granular, material details to larger, more consequential patterns. Computational bibliography, Warren argues, makes it newly possible to move fluidly between scalesโbringing into focus material features like individual type sorts and paper stocks while also uncovering large-scale clandestine printing campaigns and historical print networks. Warrenโs talk will show how such dynamic scaling is not merely a technical convenience but a methodological breakthroughโone that enables book historians to ask and answer fascinating new questions.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ:
Christopher N. Warren is Professor of English and History and incoming Head of English at Carnegie Mellon University. Warren is the author of ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, 1580โ1680 (2015), which was awarded the 2016 Roland H. Bainton Prize for Literature. A former member of the Modern Language Associationโs executive committee for 17th-Century English, Warren co-founded ๐๐ช๐น ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ด ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ and directed the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded digital humanities project โFreedom and the Press before Freedom of the Press,โ which used machine learning and artificial intelligence to discover and center the anonymous craftsmen and -women responsible for printing controversial clandestine materials.
Rare Book School
RBS faculty member Paul Needham (Princeton Univ.) gave a public lecture on "The Catholicon Press Revisited: The Evidence of Nailheads" on 29 July 2025. You can watch the full recording of the lecture on YouTube at https://youtu.be/o4aMEB38slw?feature=shared.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ธ:
The ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ, whose colophon states that it was printed in Mainz, 1460, has been the subject of controversy for more than fifty years. Paul Needham argues that it was printed from thin two-line stereotypes, used for three typographically identical impressions, dating to 1460, 1469, and 1472-73. Others maintain that it was printed directly from movable types, like all other incunables; that the colophon date is wrong; and that all copies were printed in 1469. Needham, working with Eric White, has recently discovered new evidence which strongly supports the stereotype hypothesis.
๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ:
Paul Needham became Scheide Librarian at Princeton University in 1998 and retired in 2020. Before coming to Princeton, he worked at Sothebyโs and at the Pierpont Morgan Library. Among his books is ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: 400โ1600 (1979). He has given Rare Book School courses on early printed books both at the Morgan and at the Huntington.
