Bookbinding in Theory and Practice

I. Hands-on bookbinding workshop taught by Javiera Barrientos (3:30–4:30)

RSVP to book@cca.rutgers.edu

II. Lecture: Who Bound Books in Early Modern England? (5pm)

Aaron Pratt, University of Texas at Austin

Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts, Harry Ransom Center

Respondent: Javiera Barrientos, Rutgers University

Aaron T. Pratt is Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Center. His research and teaching focus on bibliography, the history of the book, and the literature and culture of early modern England. In addition, his writing has appeared in several venues, including Shakespeare Quarterly, Shakespeare Studies, The Library, Fine Books and Collections magazine, and the Times Literary Supplement. Moreover, his work has appeared in edited collections published by Oxford and Cambridge.

His co-curated exhibition, Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt, is on view at the Ransom Center April 11 – August 2, 2026.

Javiera Barrientos is a PhD candidate in English Literature at Rutgers University, where she researches bibliographic waste in colonial contexts during the early modern period. In addition, she is a book historian, bookbinder, and essayist.

Her most recent experimental essay, Elegía a las bibliotecas perdidas, is being reissued in the collection Habitar la Biblioteca published by Biblioteca Revelaciones. Additionally, she is a graduate fellow at the Rutgers Initiative for the Book.

Furthermore, her work on waste paper and colonial bookbinding in libraries of the Viceroyalty of Peru was recognized with the D. F. McKenzie New Scholar Award from the Bibliographical Society of America in 2025.

Location

Both events will take place at Murray Hall 302, 510 George St, New Brunswick NJ.