Houghton Library is pleased to announce two events for the fall term.
On Monday, October 24th, 5:30 p.m., Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian at Princeton University, will deliver the 94th Winship Lecture in the Lamont Library, Forum Room. Dr. Needham’s topic will be:
“The Gutenberg Bible from Past to Present”
He will include an overview extending from the making of the Gutenberg Bible to its original sale and use; the loss and destruction of copies; its rediscovery and identification; and its steady growth in status, nowhere more than in America, as the prominent icon of the invention of printing.
The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Richardson Room, Houghton Library.
On Thursday, October 27th, 10:00-Noon or 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the Houghton Library, Seminar Room, Dr. Needham will conduct a Houghton Library Workshop on:
“The Many Layers of the Fifteenth-Century Printed Book”
The workshop will present a multi-faceted examination of the ways in which early printed books, using the Harvard copy of the Gutenberg Bible as a primary example, can be fruitfully seen as individual archaeological sites.
This workshop is one in a continuing series intended to provide students and faculty an opportunity to work closely with outstanding originals from the Houghton Library’s collection under the direction of a renowned specialist, in this case, Paul Needham. Space in the workshop is limited and priority will be given to Harvard University students. If you would like to attend, please contact Monique Duhaime to reserve a morning or afternoon seat.
Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian at Princeton University, has written extensively on the invention and early spread of European printing, including on Johann Gutenberg, the Gutenberg Bible, and Gutenberg’s Catholicon Press. Among other works he is the author of Twelve Centuries of Bookbinding; The Printer and the Pardoner: An Unrecorded Indulgence Printed by William Caxton; and, appearing this year, Galileo Makes A Book: The First Edition of Sidereus Nuncius.