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The Georgetown University Library is pleased
to announce the appointment of John Buchtel as the new
Head of the Special Collections Research Center. Dr.
Buchtel comes to us most recently from Johns Hopkins
University’s
Sheridan Libraries, where since 2004 he has served as
Curator of Rare Books and had responsibility for the
promotion,
development, and care of the rare book collections in
the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, the George Peabody
Library,
and the John Work Garrett Library. Prior to that he was
Curator of Collections at Rare Book School, an independent
institute for the history of books and printing based
at the University of Virginia. |
Buchtel earned his doctorate in English from the University
of Virginia, writing on “Book Dedications in Early Modern
England and the Literary Patronage of Henry, Prince of Wales
(1594-1612).” His research has been published in Teaching
Bibliography, Textual Criticism, and Book History, edited by
Ann Hawkins; in Book History, the journal of the Society for
the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing; and in
the forthcoming Prince Henry Revived: Image and Exemplarity
in Early Modern England, edited by Timothy Wilks. He has lectured
on curatorship, book collecting, the history of the book, and
other topics at the National Library of Medicine, Rare Book
School, the National Arts Club in New York, and other venues.
He has curated exhibitions on education in the Renaissance,
on the value of collecting multiple editions, and most recently
on the popular reception of Charlotte Brontë’s novel
Jane Eyre. Buchtel is active in the Bibliographical Society
of America; the Grolier Club, America’s leading association
of book collectors and bibliophiles; and the Rare Books and
Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research
Libraries.
Buchtel says he looks forward to working in Georgetown’s
rich, historic collections and raising their profile with Georgetown’s
distinguished faculty, talented students, and the international
research community. “One of the key functions of a special
collections department within the context of a research university,” he
says, “is to serve as a primary source laboratory for
students of the historical humanities. I specialize in the
integration of rare materials into the curriculum, providing
students with a tangible experience of the history of whatever
discipline they may be studying. Georgetown’s extensive
collections are full of wonderful opportunities to enable students
and researchers to grapple with the ways in which the physical
forms of information affect its meaning and reception.”
“John brings a deep appreciation for what Special Collections
can do for students, their research, and scholarship in general,” says
John Buschman, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly
Resources and Services. “He also brings to Georgetown
a stellar background to manage the interesting challenges of
the Special Collections Research Center.”
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