What it covers.

Across thirteen modules it builds from first principles. It begins with the single folded sheet, the master fact from which format, signatures, catchwords, and collation all descend, then moves outward to the physical witnesses that let a book be dated and judged: the structure of paper and its watermarks, the face of the type, the difference between a woodcut and an engraving, the evidence held in a binding, and the life a copy has led through its provenance. It closes where the market begins, with rarity, census, and value, and with how to build a defensible argument about how rare a book truly is.

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Who is it for?

Collectors, dealers, cataloguers, and students of the book who want to stop taking descriptions on trust and start reading the object for themselves. No prior training in bibliography is assumed. A curiosity about how books are made, and a willingness to hold one up to the light, are enough to begin.

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A note on viewing

This course is best viewed on a computer. It is also optimised for mobile, but the desktop version remains superior, as certain graphics are not available on smaller screens. There is no progress bar and progress is not saved, as the site follows a strict no-cookie policy and stores no personal information; the course is instead designed to be self-paced. For interactive widgets and animations to display correctly, an up-to-date browser is recommended.