The Reformation of the Book: 1450-1650

Testimonials from previous seminar participants

Ronald Patkus: “The seminar provided a unique opportunity for me to conduct research in some of the world's greatest collections and also to exchange ideas with a wonderful group of colleagues engaged in similar work; this combination of inquiry and discussion was highly stimulating and fruitful for me and the entire group, and I would urge other interested scholars to consider the possibility of participating in future offerings.”

• Dr. Ronald Patkus is Associate Director of the Libraries for Special Collections and Adjunct Associate Professor of History at Vassar College. He teaches classes on the History of the Book and the Reformation, and was a participant in the 2007 NEH seminar on the Reformation and the Book, 1450-1700.  During the seminar he produced a blog to record some of his travels and experiences: see http://reformationofthebook.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Meg Roland: “The NEH seminar, ‘Reformation of the Book,’ was an amazing scholarly and collegial experience.  The opportunity to work at various libraries in Oxford and at the British Library brought a new depth to work that I had started on late medieval and early modern maps in literary and popular printed texts.  I learned so much from the other participants and now count them among my colleagues and friends.  As a medievalist, it was particularly enriching to spend time with early modernists and to extend past my usual period.  I will be collaborating on a panel next year with another seminar participant at the Renaissance Society of America and, as a result of my work in the seminar, have been invited to participate in an upcoming conference on geography and literature to be held at UCLA in 2009.  The NEH seminar was a great impetus for me to take my work in new directions.  It was intellectually stimulating and, at the same time, so much fun.”

• Dr. Margaret Roland is Assistant Professor of English at Marylhurst University and was a seminar participant in 2007.  During the seminar, she created a blog – http://printingbooksandmaps.blogspot.com/ – that chronicles both scholarly and social aspects of the seminar: book history and production as studied by participants while in Antwerp and Oxford as well as time spent in pubs or along the river Thames.  In addition, there are posts related to a weekend sojourn to sites related to Malory's Le Morte Darthur, including Winchester, Glastonbury, and Stonehenge.