Beyond Words: Early Books and the Design of the Reading Experience

Copiously drawing from the Stanford Archives, this seminar will study the revolutionary design of the first printed books to ask questions about the nature of reading and the commodification of culture. Besides being trained in typography and printing techniques, the students will explore early modern books as multi-layered objects in which texts, images, cutouts, colors, and a multitude of materials constructed new frameworks for attention and fantasies while contributing to the globalization of media.