[Libri] Book lectures at Smith College: 3/24 & 3/31

[Barbara Blumenthal]

"Fingers in Pages: How to Read a Renaissance Book"
Lecture by Peter Stallybrass
Thursday, March 24, 2005 at 4:30 pm
Neilson Library Browsing Room, Smith College

"The history of reading is a history of the "index"--a word that means both a part of the body and parts of a book. An index is also a pointing hand that was frequently drawn or printed in the margins of books to draw attention to a particular passage. The "index" in all its senses reminds us of the intimate connection between our hands and the books we read."--Peter Stallybrass
     Peter Stallybrass' keen interest in how people physically read and used Renaissance books has led him to examine a number of well-used*and some ill-used*volumes in the Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College. Peter Stallybrass' lecture concerns the use of book marks, indexes, pointing hands, ribbons, tabs, and other means of "navigation" in books; he examines the intimate connection between our hands and the books we read. Stallybrass' friend, Ashfield artist Peter Kitchell, photographed details of some of these books to support Stallybrass' research. Kitchell used fragments of these images to create his own collaged prints, four of which are on display in the Morgan Gallery in Neilson Library (first floor).
     A noted authority on the history of the book, Peter Stallybrass is Annenberg Professor of the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania where he directs the seminar on the History of Material Texts and co-directs the Penn Humanities Forum.
      
For more information: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/info/friends/events.htm 


"Drawing a Line, Walking a Wire"
A talk by Mordicai Gerstein and Philippe Petit
Thursday, March 31st, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall, Smith College

Children's book author and illustrator Mordicai Gerstein and French high wire artist Philippe Petit will provide spellbinding stories at the annual lecture presented by the Friends of the Smith College Libraries. Both have published books about Petit's 1974 high wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
    A book signing and reception in the Neilson Library Browsing Room will follow what promises to be a fascinating evening with Gerstein and Petit.

For more information: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/info/friends/events.htm 

BOTH EVENTS ARE FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.





BARBARA B. BLUMENTHAL, MRBR Assistant
Mortimer Rare Book Room  *  Neilson Library
Smith College  *  Northampton, MA 01063
Tel.: 413-585-2906   Fax: 413-585-4486
e-mail: bblument at smith.edu