We invite graduate students at either MA and PhD level from any discipline to present 20 minute papers exploring the critical issues involved in their research into the printed or the manuscript book. We particularly encourage those wishing to discuss the intellectual, methodological and legal effects of recent digitization projects, including EEBO and Google’s new partnership with the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

We welcome papers on these generally defined themes,

• The ways in which the physical form of a work influences its function or reception. Participants may here wish to think about the changing form of the book for a new context or period.
• The relationship between audience and textual form. Do audiences (groups or individuals) shape a work’s physical form and/or textual content, or are they merely passive receptors of a fixed object?
• The process of making material from meaning. Do we find ‘creators’ (i.e. authors) and ‘makers’ (i.e. editors, publishers and book makers) of books disputing the relationship between content and form? What impact does this debate have on the formation of intellectual property law?
• The impact of digitization and the internet on study of the printed and the manuscript book in either methodological or legal terms

The day will be divided into four chronological sessions, although participants will be encouraged to think beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries in order to promote discussion and debate.

Thanks to the support of the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures SAGE Postgraduate Training Programme, there will be no charge for the conference or for the conference lunch at the Cathedral Refectory. We are very pleased to announce that the Book History Research Network is sponsoring a Cheese and Wine Reception following the Conference.

Our keynote speaker is Dr Peter D. McDonald (St Hugh’s College, Oxford).

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words to Matthew Yeo, at matthew.g.yeo@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk by 15th November 2007. To register, please email Matthew Yeo with contact details and a brief research profile.