Module: Decoding an Early Modern Title Page

Module Title: Decoding an Early Modern Title Page

Module length: Approximately 20 minutes

Module Status: In progress; we expect this module to be available for integration into Canvas courses starting on February 1, 2021

Module Learning Objectives:

• Students will be able to recognize different types of content in an Early Modern title page regardless of layout, language, or genre
• Students will be able to identify the differences and similarities between Early Modern title pages and standard modern title pages
• Students will be able to analyze the information found on Early Modern title pages to determine not only who wrote a book or when a book was printed, but also what type of publication it was and who the book’s likely intended audience might have been

Module summary:

This module introduces students to the components that comprise an Early Modern title page, guiding them through an analysis of four early modern title pages taken from books from our collections (Robert Hooke’s Micrographia, Christopher Clavius’s commentary on the work Sacro Bosco, Coryat’s Crudeties by Thomas Coryate, and Athenasius Kircher’s Itinerarium Exstaticum) so that they can recognize content like publication information, authorship, and indicators of genre and intended audience even when the title page is not in English. This module will also introduce students to concepts like letterpress and copper plate printing, two-color printing, and the basic analysis of emblems and printing devices.

If you are interested in using one of these modules either as a preface to a larger Special Collections component to your course instruction or as a stand-alone addition to your course, please follow the instructions for requesting instruction on our Class Sessions and Instruction page. Note: Special Collections will not be hosting in-person class visits for the Spring 2021 semester