The rapid spread of typography from the 1450s in Europe created new stakes, motives, and anxieties around making a book. I will examine how authors and printers of early printed books used paratexts, i.e. the front matter and back matter surrounding the text itself, to manage these concerns, notably by seeking to attract buyers, forestall criticism, and boost their reputation. I will offer examples from publications by Erasmus, Copernicus, and Conrad Gessner in conjunction with books in the collections at the CUHK to examine what the books tell us explicitly and what they seek to hide about authorship and book production in their time.

Speaker
Prof. Ann BLAIR
Department of History, Harvard University

Meeting ID: 990 8868 4183
Meeting link: https://cuhk.zoom.us/j/99088684183