Ransom Center Magazine

About Aaron Pratt

Pratt oversees research, access, and interpretation of the Ransom Center’s pre-1700 books and manuscripts. He holds a Ph.D. in English from Yale University, with specializations in the literature and culture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, bibliography, and the history of the book.

Collated & perfect

By

The publication and series of programs Collated & Perfect tracks the changing standards that collectors, institutions, and scholars have used to describe and evaluate early printed books. Doing so reveals why the books take the often surprising forms they do today. [Read more…] about Collated & perfect

Printing manuscripts

By

In order to understand the Gutenberg Bible, it is critical to remember that it is a medieval book that was designed to satisfy the needs of medieval readers. Today, we expect pages in most books to be black and white. To navigate what we read, we rely on variations in typography, centered text, indents, and other creative uses of white space. [Read more…] about Printing manuscripts

In the Galleries: Interactive design in early printed books

By

In early July 2017, a little over a month after I started as the new early books and manuscripts curator at the Ransom Center, a colleague informed me that [Read more…] about In the Galleries: Interactive design in early printed books

A baroness and her bookshelves in an English parish church

By

In May, the Ransom Center acquired two volumes of Ambrose’s Opera (or Works) in Latin. The edition was published in Basel in 1567. What is most compelling about these particular books, however, is less the writings of the Church Father, as such, and more their story as books.  [Read more…] about A baroness and her bookshelves in an English parish church

Instructions for reading aloud in the Gutenberg Bible

By

As many readers of this blog will know, Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust’s Biblia latina (Mainz, 1454–1455) represents the first substantial book printed from moveable type on a printing press. Without question, it is a milestone in information technology. And yet, it is important to remember that [Read more…] about Instructions for reading aloud in the Gutenberg Bible