The Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing at the University of Reading will be holding its inaugural Summer School on 20 & 21 June this year.

‘Cultures of the book: lithography, consumption, reading’ will explore how books have been made, consumed and read following the invention of lithography in the early nineteenth century. Talks by leading scholars and practitioners will be combined with a hands-on approach using the University’s collections and archives.

Participants will see and practice lithographic printing from stone; they will gain understanding of some the ways in which lithography transformed the ways that books are made and read, in Latin and Arabic script, and books for children. Publishers’ archives and collections of book-related printed ephemera (book plates, trade cards, bookmarks, publishers’ promotional material) will inform talks and sessions to support understanding through looking and questioning. Talks with examples from the printing collection will show type and typography from the past informs what readers experience today

Speakers and practitioners include Prof Michael Twyman, Dr Rathna Ramanathan, Dr Liz West, Prof Paul Luna, Dr Cătălina Zlotea, Dr Borna Izadpanah, Mr Geoff Wyeth, Dr Matthew Chambers. The event will be held at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication and Special Collections at the University of Reading.

Further information will be released shortly.