Coursework 1996
This page gives links to lecture notes done by students on two courses that
I ran in the Spring of 1996: one on history of printing (B&P1)
and the other on forensic handwriting analysis and research (B&P2).
The notes have been checked by me for accuracy, and in some cases added
to or otherwise supplemented.
B&P1 Spring 1996
This course deals with various aspects of history of printing and the evolution
of printed text, from hand printing to the Internet.
Week 2: overview of some terminology.
Edition, impression, issue, state; format; the stemma of a printed book.
Week 3: more on format--how
to determine it. Greg's Rationale of Copy-text.
Week 4: Notes on the examination; plan
of the rest of the course; social relations
in the printing shop from Caxton to Wapping.
Week 5: The power of the printed page. Developments
in composition: plates; Monotype and linotype composing machines. Lavishly
illustrated!!
Week 6: Offset-litho printing;
power and the people. With diagrams
of web-fed letterpress printing and offset-litho printing.
Week 8: The Macintosh: typesetting
for everyone.
Week 9: The World Wide Web: personal
publishing.
B&P2 Spring 1996
This course is in scientific method; the students collectively conduct supervised
experimental research in forensic handwriting analysis, and at the same
time consider some theory of science and learn basic research methodology.
Week 2: Introduction to theory
of science: Popper; what is science?
Week 3: Theory in science (Kuhn);
construction of experiments. Pilot project initiated: study of handwriting
done on an irregular surface.
Week 4: Pilot evaluated and refined.
Week 5: Preliminary analysis
of pilot data.
Week 6: Preparing to write up.
Week 8:
The written up work of the students, and the beginnings of a synthesis
