
Bowdoin & The Book seeks to elevate conversations about the “book,” broadly defined to extend from oral traditions to manuscripts, printed books, and digital media, to serve as the conduit for an exploration of the intersections of history, technology, culture, language, literature, economics, art, representation, and more. By positioning Bowdoin College Library’s George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives as a site of encounter and to situate collections-based study and research within the rich landscape of Maine-based book artists, craftspeople, and booksellers–we hope this series and related efforts will provide research and pedagogical support to effectively engage in high-impact learning across disciplines and co-curricular programs, promote discursive and creative thinking, confront a diversity of perspectives, and acquire hands-on and field work experience.
Fall 2022 Lecture
The artist’s book represents a dynamic interplay of concept, design, material and form. Requiring a mode of reading closer to poetry than prose, the artist book's currency is metaphor, visual and linguistic. This talk discussed how the process of making books by hand can be revelatory, focusing on two artist’s books by Ken Botnick at Special Collections & Archives.