Enriching American Studies Scholarship through the History of the Book

Philip Gura

James N. Green

Eliza Richards

Since its emergence as a separate discipline more than a half century ago, American studies has contributed significantly to innovative and revisionist scholarship. In this weeklong seminar, participants considered how the equally interdisciplinary field of the history of the book broadens and enriches topics that traditionally have comprised American studies and its constituent disciplines, including history and literature.

Books in American Lives, 1830-1890

Participants in the seminar will investigate how Americans of that period lived in a literary culture. We will investigate how books made themselves felt in home and public life through readings, discussion, and workshops based in part on the American Antiquarian Society's extensive collections of manuscripts, periodicals, and visual sources. Seminar participants will consider the material culture of literary culture. Our investigations may take us to historic sites with literary associations, antiquarian bookstores, public sculptures, and flea markets.