Despite more than a century of near-ubiquity, duplicated materials remain poorly studied and understood — even among collectors, curators, booksellers, and scholars who frequently handle them. But to misunderstand, for example, what separates a xerox from a mimeograph, or to be unable to distinguish a ditto from a hectograph can have profound implications in our interpretations of of books and texts.  This workshop will introduce the various duplicating technologies (from spirit duplication and xerography to electrofax and verifax) and explain their particular characteristics, with examples from typical publications and documents produced by these means. We will also will also differentiate duplication from printing, and begin to discuss some of the bibliographic implications of these technologies.

 

Sponsor: Rare Books and Special Collections, Firestone Library; Department of English

 

Contact: Joshua Kotin, jkotin@princeton.edu