ENG3803 - Spring 2025 - Bates

Every book has a story beyond the words it tells. From texts scrapped away in an effort to censor older works to the notes scribbled on the sides that peak into the readers world. Each of these books was created by multiple hands that each leave their own mark upon the manuscript. This course will begin with the first types of writing: papyrus and clay tablets, stop to consider the middle ages and the laborious process of creating manuscripts, move on to rag paper, and the life cycles it could have.