For the burgeoning field of Critical Bibliography, “the study of the physical characteristics of books and the process of bookmaking,” Rare Book School is the highlight of the year. The Paris Review’s Benjamin Breen reports from the annual conference out of UVA, where old-school book enthusiasts gather to share in the examination of woodcuts, medieval manuscripts, and specimens like a gold-edged copy of Encyclopédie with Diderot’s handwritten notes in the margins. In addition to serving as an important research symposium, this so-called “summer camp for book nerds” is a testament to the abiding fondness for books as material objects, which should bring some measure of solace to readers and historians everywhere.
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