Charlottesville, VA field trip
Field Trip to Charlottesville, Virginia
Saturday, September 10
Charlottesville has been called a book town for several decades. Starting with the presence of a large number of used and antiquarian book sellers and a dynamic university with a leading American library, the city’s book presence really began to be felt in the nineties with the creation and rapid growth of the Virginia Festival of the Book. During that decade Columbia’s Rare Book School (RBS) created by MacArthur Genius award-winner Terry Belanger relocated to the University of Virginia and the dynamic Virginia Arts of the Book Center was opened. Today these energetic institutions attract thousands of book lovers and scholars of bibliography each year.
On Saturday, September 10th, about a dozen Chapter members traveled to Charlottesville, VA for a day of examining rare and artists’ books. We started by touring Rare Book School (RBS) facilities located in the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library where Jeremy Dibbell, Director of Communications and Outreach, and Amanda Nelsen, Director of Programs and Education discussed the history of the School and space, described the various programs, and showcased a selection of materials from the RBS teaching collection. We then had a catered lunch at the RBS dining room.
After lunch we moved on to the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library where we were shown a selection of treasures – in chronological order – starting with small clay tablets from 2400 BCE. We were then shown, among other items, a papyrus fragment from 100 CE, a beautiful 15th century manuscript book of hours from Paris, the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicles, a 1570 atlas with copper plate engravings, John Rolf’s very neatly handwritten report to the Virginia Governor when he left for England, and the 1663 Eliot’s Indian Bible printed in the Algonquian language (which prior to the bible was an unwritten language).
We then drove to the Virginia Arts of the Book Center (VABC) where we examined a number of the artists’ books produced there, toured the shop and got an overview of the activities that take place there.
We want thank Chapter member Josef Beery who arranged the trip, as well as all the RBS,
Special Collections, and VABC personnel who made the trip so enjoyable and memorable.