These slides introduce readers to the rare books collection held at Archives and Special Collections at the University of Glasgow. The slides tell readers how to get support when looking for rare books for teaching and research and include tips on how to make your searches most effective when using our databases.

A video discussing the value of in-person viewing and handling of early editions of books/texts to complement modern critical editions and digitised early editions

Video showing MS Kelvin LB1

The video looks at MS Hunter 217, Cassiodorus's Tripartite History of the Church, written in Germany in the late 12th century, as a case study. The video focusses not on the text but on the material and paratextual features of the manuscript itself and what these can tell us about earlier medieval book production and culture

This video looks at this printed, incunable, copy of De proprietatibus rerum as a case study. Rather than focussing on the text, the video discusses what the books material and paratextual features can tell us about late medieval book production and culture

A video discussing paper manufacture in late medieval and early modern Europe, and the material features of handmade paper useful in bibliography

This video examines the definition of the bibliographical term edition, impression, issue and state, with the use of real life examples to illustrate

A video discussing what the terms format, signature, and collational formula mean in bibliography, and how material and paratextual features of early-printed books can be used to determine a book's format and collation

A video discussing how early modern European books were printed, touching on the technology, the terminology, and the printed books themselves

A video discussing what to look for and think about when looking at an early-printed book for the first time. Based on an exercise conceived by Sarah Werner in "Studying early printed books 1450-1800: a practical guide"