David Gants

Emeritus Professor
dgants@fsu.edu
Humanities computing, history of the book, history of text technologies, renaissance literature, descriptive and analytical bibliography

DAVID L. GANTS, (Ph.D., University of Virginia, 1997), works on the history of printing and publishing at either end of the Gutenberg age, focusing on both the emerging European printing trade 1450–1700 and the current digital transformation taking place in the industry. He has published widely on descriptive and analytical bibliography, the early London book trade, and the overlap between bibliographical and digital humanities scholarship. Dr. Gants joined the FSU faculty in the fall of 2007 as part of the interdisciplinary Pathways of Excellence History of Text Technologies program.

He is the Electronic Editor for the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson (2012) and Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson Online (2014), a ground-breaking enterprise trailblazing a new model for electronic scholarly editing. Dr. Gants is also the editor of The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, a journal published by the University of Chicago Press and Bibliographical Society of America, the oldest scholarly society in North America devoted to the study of books, manuscripts, and the history of printing and publishing. He is currently finishing a book project, “The Book as a Material Object: An Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography.”

Dr. Gants has served on a large number of boards and committees, including the Executive Committee of the Association for Computers and Humanities, the Council of the Bibliographical Society of America, the Executive Committee of Society for Textual Scholarship, and as the Chair of the Textual and Bibliographical Studies Section of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association. He currently is a member of the Advisory Board for the Oxford Works of Edmund Spenser, the Oxford Works of James Shirley, and the New Oxford Works of William Shakespeare. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the English Short Title Catalogue.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • “MDCXVI.” Ben Jonson Journal 25, no. 1 (2018).
  • “ ‘Mine of Debt’: William White and the Printing of the 1602 Spanish Tragedy . . . with new additions.” In Companion to the New Oxford Shakespeare. Palgrave, 2017.
  • The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson. Cambridge University Press, 2014
  • “The 1612 Don Quixote and the Windet-Stansby Printing House”. In The Creation and Re-creation of Cardenio: Performing Shakespeare, Transforming Cervantes. Palgrave, 2013
  • “The Printing and Publishing of Ben Jonson's Works.” With Thomas Lockwood, in The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
  • The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson. Electronic Editor. Gen. Eds. David Bevington, Ian Donaldson, Martin Butler. 7 vols. Cambridge University Press, 2012
  • “Descriptive Bibliography and Electronic Publication.” Essays & Studies 2010. Eds. Orietta Da Rold and Elaine Treharne. The English Association, 2010
  • “Electronic Texts.” Renaissance Studies and New Technologies: A Collection, with R. Carter Hailey. Eds. William R. Bowen and Raymond G. Siemens. Renaissance Society of America, 2008.
  • “Editing Drama.” Electronic Textual Editing. Eds. Lou Burnard, Katherine O'Brien O'Keefe, John Unsworth. MLA, 2006.
  • “Shifting Modes of Ordered Knowledge in the Early Modern Book Trade.” Worlds of Print: Diversity in the Book Trade. Ed. John Hinks. Oak Knoll, 2006.
  • “A Quantitative Analysis of the London Book Trade 1614-1618.” Studies in Bibliography 55 (2002; published 2004).
  • “Identifying and Tracking Paper Stocks in Early Modern London.” Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 94 (2000).

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

  • “The Place of Electronic Editions, Impressions, and Facsimiles in a Book’s Biography.” Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing Conference. Victoria, BC, 9–12 June 2017.
  • “Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography,” a workshop for faculty members of the Department of English, Simon Fraser University. Vancouver, BC. 25–30 April 2016.
  • “Descriptive Bibliography: Putting the Book Back in Book History.” Washington Area Group for Print Culture Studies. Washington, DC. 6 November 2015.
  • “Publishing Book History.” Panelist, Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing Conference. Antwerp, Belgium. 17–21 September 2014.
  • “Bibliography is Dead; Long Live Bibliography.” Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography Opening Colloquium. Rare Book School, University of Virginia. 29 May 2014.
  • “Analyzing Large Bibliographical Datasets: A Case Study.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Boston, 3–6 January 2013
  • “The Future of the Book: Libraries and Landfills?” Plenary Panel Session. The Future of the Book. Florida State University Libraries. Tallahassee, FL, 21–22 July 2011
  • “The Institution(alization) of Digital Humanities.” Session Chair. Modern Language Association Annual Convention. New York, 6–9 January 2011.
  • “Digital Challenges Confronting Manuscript Studies in the 21st Century.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. San Francisco, 27–30 December 2008.
  • “The Descriptive Bibliography of Electronic Scholarly Editions.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Chicago, 27–30 2007.
  • “Mapping the Socio-Economic Demographics of the Early Modern London Book Trade.” With Sarah Neville. Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Chicago, 27–30 2007.
  • “Electronic Textual Editing.” Panelist. Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Philadelphia, 27-–30 December 2006.
  • “Printing and Bookselling Preferences of Women in the Early Modern London Book Trade.” With Sarah Neville. Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Philadelphia, 27–30 December 2006.
  • “Publisher-Printer Collaboration: The Case of Humphrey and Matthew Lownes.” The Jacobean Printed Book. London, 2 September 2006.
  • “The Dreamweaver Paradox.” Institute Lecture. Digital Humanities Summer Institute. University of Victoria. 22 June 2006.
  • “The Construction and Pedagogical Use of Digital Archives.” Workshop leader. Washington University, St. Louis. 22 May–2 June 2006.
  • “From McKerrow to McGoogle: Scholarly Editing as a Meta-Enterprise.” Glasscock Lecture, 10 October 2005, Texas A&M University.
  • “At the Intersection of the Virutal and the Material Libraries.” (De)Materializing the Early Modern Text. Bath Spa University College, 8 September 2005.
  • “Implementing the TEI.” Workshop leader. Washington University, St. Louis. 25–27 May 2005.
  • “The Early English Booktrade Database,” with R. Carter Hailey. Renaissance Society of America Annual Conference. Cambridge, UK, 9 April 2005.
  • “Digital Preservation and Electronic Scholarly Editions.” Panel chair and organizer. Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Philadelphia, 28 December 2004.
  • “The Plural of Anecdote is not Evidence: The Challenges of Digital Scholarship to a Narrative-Based Discipline.” Strode Lecture, 2 November 2004, University of Alabama.
  • “Trade Printers and Publisher-Printers; Reassessing McKerrow's Model of Printing House Economics.” The Jacobean Printed Book: Authors, Printers and Readers. London, 2–4 September 2004.
  • “Lists, Inventories and Catalogues: Shifting Modes of Ordered Knowledge in the Early Modern Book Trade.” British Book Trade History Conference. Edinburgh, 29 July 2004.
  • “Presswork vs. Composition: Assessing Measures of Printing House Productivity.” Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing Annual Meeting. Lyons, 21–24 July 2004.
  • “To What Purpose Dost Thou Hoard Thy Words? Some Thoughts on the Scholarly Archive.” Keynote speaker. Wheaton College, 2 June 2004.
  • “New Technologies and Renaissance Studies.” Panel member. Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting. New York, 1 April 2004.
  • “Synthetic Databases, Idiosyncratic Analyses and Scholarly Editing.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. San Diego, 27–30 December 2003.
  • “Beyond the Catalogue: Building a Bibliographical Addition to the ESTC.” COCH/COSH. Halifax, NS, 28 May 2003.
  • “Electronic Editing: Drama.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention. New York, 27–30 December 2002.
  • “Through a Glass Darkly: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Optical Collation.” South Atlantic Modern Language Association Annual Convention. Baltimore, 15–17 November 2002.
  • “The New Bibliography 2.0.” Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing Annual Meeting. London, 10–13 July 2002.
  • “Bibliography and its Discontexts; or, London Printing 1614–1618.” Shakespeare Association of America Annual Meeting. Miami, 12 April 2001.

SELECTED AWARDS

  • Pantzer Fellowship in Descriptive Bibliography, Houghton Library, Harvard, 2016.
  • Hinman Fellow, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2015.
  • Knopf Fellowship, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, 2015.
  • National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 2005–6.
  • Houghton Library Fellowship, 2005.
  • Canada Research Chair in Humanities Computing, 2003–7.
  • Canada Foundation for Innovation Grant, 2003–5.
  • Hinman Fellow, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2002.
  • Mellon Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, Newberry Library, 2000–1.

 
 

External links
Personal site
Publications By This Author
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