The Panizzi Lectures are a series of annual lectures given at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

by "eminent scholars of the book" and named after the librarian

Anthony Panizzi Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (16 September 1797 – 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalised British citizen of Italian birth, and an Italian patriot. He was a librarian, becoming the Principal Librarian (i.e. head ...

. They are considered one of the major British bibliographical lecture series alongside the Sandars Lectures at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and the

Lyell Lectures The Lyell Readership in Bibliography is an endowed annual lecture series given at Oxford University. Instituted in 1952 by a bequest from the solicitor, book collector and bibliographer James Patrick Ronaldson Lyell (1871–1948the series has conti ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Each year, a different book historian delivers three lectures on a topic of their choice, "pertaining to bibliography whether concerning the subjects of

palaeography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

codicology Codicology (; from French ''codicologie;'' from Latin , genitive , "notebook, book" and Greek , '' -logia'') is the study of codices or manuscript books. It is often referred to as "the archaeology of the book," a term coined by François Masai. ...

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

, bookbinding,

book illustration The illustration of manuscript books was well established in ancient times, and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript thrived in the West until the invention of printing. Other parts of the world had comparable traditions, such as the Pers ...

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an ...

, historical critical and analytical bibliography, or any subject relating directly or indirectly to any of the above subjects". The Panizzi Council, a body of book historians and professionals working in allied fields, chooses speakers three years in advance of each set of lectures. The series is usually delivered in the winter or fall. A few recent lectures have been recorded, and most of the talks see subsequent publication as scholarly

monographs A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograp ...

(see individual entries below).

Lectures

2020s series

* 2024 — Elizabeth McHenry * 2023 —

Henry Woudhuysen Henry Ruxton Woudhuysen, (born 24 October 1954), is a British academic specialising in Renaissance English literature. He is the Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, having been appointed in 2012. He was previously Dean of the Faculty of Arts and ...

* 2022 — Jeffrey F. Hamburger — ''Drawing Conclusions: Diagrams in Medieval Art and Thought'' ** Lecture 1 (24 Oct 2022): ''Maps of the Mind: Diagrams Medieval and Modern'' ** Lecture 2 (27 Oct 2022): ''The Classroom and the Codex: Practical Dimensions of Medieval Diagrams'' ** Lecture 3 (01 Nov 2022): ''Poetry, Play, Persuasion: The Diagrammatic Imagination'' * 2021 — Cynthia Brokaw — ''‘Spreading Culture Throughout the Land’: Woodblock Publishing and Chinese Book Culture in the Early Modern Era'' ** Lecture 1 (30 Nov 2021):
Woodblock Publishing in China's First Age of Print
' ** Lecture 2 (02 Dec 2021):
The Publishing Boom of Early Modern China and Late-Ming Book Culture
' ** Lecture 3 (uncertain):
The Expansion of Woodblock Publishing and the Rise of the Common Reader
' * 2020 — Series postponed to 2021

2010s series

* 2019 —

Ann Blair Ann M. Blair (born 1961) is an American historian, and the Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor at Harvard University. She specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of early modern Europe (16th-17th centuries), with an emphasis on ...

— ''Paratexts and Print in Renaissance Humanism'' ** Lecture 1 (2019 Dec 09): ''The Impact of Printing on Paratexts'' ** Lecture 2 (2019 Dec 10): ''Experiments in Humanist Paratexts'' ** Lecture 3 (2019 Dec 12): ''The Limits of Paratexts'' * 2018 — Laurie Maguire — ''The Rhetoric of the Page: Reading Blank Space'' ** Lecture 1 (2018 Nov 20): ''Reading Blank Space'' ** Lecture 2 (2018 Nov 27): ''Reading &c'' ** Lecture 3 (2018 Dec 04): ''Reading *'' * 2017 —

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literatu ...

— ''The Poetry of Sappho'' ** Lecture 1 (04 Dec 2017): ''The Witnesses'' ** Lecture 2 (07 Dec 2017): ''The Glory'' ** Lecture 3 (11 Dec 2017): ''The Shame'' * 2016 —

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bi ...

— ''British Libraries: The Literary World of Post-Roman Britain'' ** Lecture 1 (10 Oct 2016):
Gildas and the Invention of Britain
' ** Lecture 2 (12 Oct 2016):
Bede and the Invention of England
' ** Lecture 3 (17 Oct 2016):
Nennius and the Invention of Wales
' * 2015 —

David McKitterick David John McKitterick, (born 9 January 1948) is an English librarian and academic, who was Librarian and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Early life and education McKitterick was born on 9 January 1948 to the Revd Canon J. H. B. McKitteri ...

— ''The Invention of Rare Books'' ** Lecture 1 (02 Nov 2015): ''A Seventeenth-Century Revolution'' ** Lecture 2 (05 Nov 2015): ''Selling the Harleian Library'' ** Lecture 3 (09 Nov 2015): ''Private Interest and Public Responsibility'' ** Published as: McKitterick, David. ''The Invention of Rare Books: Private Interest and Public Memory, 1600–1840''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. * 2014 —

Christopher de Hamel Christopher Francis Rivers de Hamel (born 20 November 1950) is a British academic librarian and expert on mediaeval manuscripts. He is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and former Fellow Librarian of the Parker Library. His book '' ...

— ''The Giant Bibles of Twelfth-Century England'' ** Lecture 1 (27 Oct 2014): ''The Bury Bible'' ** Lecture 2 (30 Oct 2014): ''The Winchester Bible'' ** Lecture 3 (03 Nov 2014): ''The Lambeth Bible'' * 2013 —

Robert Darnton Robert Choate Darnton (born May 10, 1939) is an American cultural historian and academic librarian who specializes in 18th-century France. He was director of the Harvard University Library from 2007 to 2016. Life Darnton was born in New Yor ...

— ''Censors at Work: Bourbon France, Imperialist India, and Communist East Germany'' ** Lecture 1 (06 Jan 2014): ''Bourbon France: Privilege and Repression'' ** Lecture 2 (07 Jan 2014): ''British India: Liberalism and Imperialism'' ** Lecture 3 (09 Jan 2014): ''Communist East Germany: Planning and Persecution'' ** Published as: Darnton, Robert. ''Censors at Work: How States Shaped Literature''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. * 2012 — Brian Richardson — ''Women, Books, and Communities in Renaissance Italy'' ** Lecture 1 (15 Oct 2012): ''Circulating Books'' ** Lecture 2 (22 Oct 2012): ''Making and Selling Books'' ** Lecture 3 (29 Oct 2012): ''Acquiring Books'' ** Published as: Richardson, Brian F. ''Women and the Circulation of Texts in Renaissance Italy''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. * 2011 — Robert D. Hume and Judith Milhous — ''The Publication of Plays in Eighteenth-Century London: Playwrights, Publishers, and the Market'' ** Lecture 1 (24 Oct 2011): ''Money and Readers'' ** Lecture 2 (25 Oct 2011): ''Playwrights'' ** Lecture 3 (31 Oct 2011): ''Publishers, Illustrations, and Tactics'' ** Published as: Milhous, Judith, and Robert D. Hume. ''The Publication of Plays in London: 1660–1800; Playwrights, Publishers, and the Market''. The Panizzi Lectures 2011. London: British Library, 2015. * 2010 —

James Raven James Russell Raven LittD FBA FSA (born 13 April 1959) is a British scholar specializing in the history of the book. His published works include ''The English Novel 1770-1829'' (2000)'', The Business of Books'' (2007), and ''What is the Histo ...

— ''London Booksites: Places of Printing and Publication before 1800'' ** Lecture 1 (27 Oct 2010): ''Antient Shops and Conversible Men'' ** Lecture 2 (03 Nov 2010): ''Versatility and the Gloomy Stores of Literature'' ** Lecture 3 (10 Nov 2010): ''Industry, Fashion, and Pettyfogging Drivellers'' ** Published as: Raven, James. ''Bookscape: Geographies of Printing and Publishing in London before 1800''. The Panizzi Lectures 2010. London: British Library, 2014.

2000s series

* 2009 —

Anthony Grafton Anthony Thomas Grafton (born May 21, 1950) is an American historian of early modern Europe and the Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, where he is also the Director the Program in European Cultural Studies. He i ...

— ''The Culture of Correction in Renaissance Europe'' ** Published as: Grafton, Anthony. ''The Culture of Correction in Renaissance Europe''. The Panizzi Lectures 2009. London: British Library, 2011. * 2008 — Nicholas Pickwoad — ''Reading Bindings: Bindings as Evidence of the Culture and Business of Books'' * 2007 — Jonathan J. G. Alexander — ''Italian Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts in the Collections of the British Library'' * 2006 — Christopher Pinney — ''The Coming of Photography to India'' ** Published as: Pinney, Christopher. ''The Coming of Photography to India''. The Panizzi Lectures 2006. London: British Library, 2008. * 2005 — Will Ryan — ''The Magic of Russia'' ** Published as: Ryan, William F. ''Russian Magic Books in the British Library: Books, Manuscripts, Scholars and Travellers''. The Panizzi Lectures 2005. London: British Library, 2006. * 2004 — María Luisa López-Vidriero — ''The Polished Cornerstones of the Temple: Queenly Libraries of the Enlightenment'' ** Published as: López-Vidriero, María Luisa. ''Polished Cornerstones of the Temple: Queenly Libraries of the Enlightenment''. The Panizzi Lectures 2004. London: British Library, 2005. * 2003 —

Antony Griffiths Antony Vaughan Griffiths, (born 28 July 1951) is a British museum curator and art historian, specialising in prints and drawings. From 1991 to 2011, he served as Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum. He was Slade Prof ...

— ''Prints for Books: French Book Illustration 1760–1800'' ** Published as: Griffiths, Anthony. ''Prints for Books: Book Illustration in France 1760-1800''. The Panizzi Lectures 2003. London: British Library, 2004. * 2002 —

Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Uni ...

— ''T. S. Eliot's Revisions after Publication'' ** Published as: Ricks, Christopher. ''Decisions and Revisions in T. S. Eliot''. The Panizzi Lectures 2002. London: British Library, 2003. * 2001 —

Nicolas Barker Nicolas John Barker (born 1932) is a British historian of printing and books. He was Head of Conservation at the British Library from 1976 to 1992 and is a former editor of '' The Book Collector''. A bibliography of his work was published to m ...

— ''‘Things not reveal’d’: The Mutual Impact of Idea and Form in the Transmission of Verse 2000 B.C.–A.D. 1500'' ** Published as: Barker, Nicholas. ''Things Not Reveal'd Manifestations of Verse from Antiquity to the End of the Middle Ages—The Panizzi Lectures''. London: British Library, 2002. * 2000 —

Michael Twyman Michael Twyman (born 1934) is a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading. He joined the university staff in 1959. He established a BA (Hons) course in Typography & Graphic Communicat ...

— ''Breaking the Mould: The First Hundred Years of Lithography'' ** Published as: Twyman, Michael. ''Breaking the Mould: The First Hundred Years of Lithography''. The Panizzi Lectures 2000. London: British Library, 2001.

1990s series

* 1999 —

Glen Dudbridge Glen Dudbridge FBA (1938 – 5 February 2017) was a British Sinologist, specialising in the literature and religious culture of China, ranging between the eighth and seventeenth centuries AD, with particular attention to narrative traditions an ...

— ''Lost Books of Medieval China'' ** Published as: Dudbridge, Glen. ''Lost Books of Medieval China. The Panizzi Lectures''. London: British Library, 2000. * 1998 —

Roger Chartier Roger Chartier, (born December 9, 1945 in Lyon), is a French historian and historiographer who is part of the Annales school. He works on the history of books, publishing and reading. He teaches at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Soc ...

— ''Publishing Drama in Early Modern Europe'' ** Published as: Chartier, Roger. ''Publishing Drama in Early Modern Europe''. The Panizzi Lectures 1998. London: British Library, 1999. * 1997 — Mirjam M. Foot — ''The History of Bookbinding as a Mirror of Society'' ** Published as: Foot, Mirjam. ''A History of Bookbinding as a Mirror of Society: 1997 Panizzi Lectures''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999. * 1996 — Charles Burnett — ''The Introduction of Arabic Learning into England'' ** Published as: Burnett, Charles. ''Introduction of Arabic Learning into England''. The Panizzi Lectures 1996. London: British Library, 1997. * 1995 — David Woodward — ''Maps as Prints in the Italian Renaissance: Makers, Distributors, and Consumers'' ** Published as: Woodward, David. ''Maps as Prints in the Italian Renaissance''. The Panizzi Lectures 1995. London: British Library, 1996. * 1994 —

Iain Fenlon Iain Alexander Fenlon (born 26 October 1949 in Prestbury, Cheshire) is a British musicologist who specializes in music from 1450–1650; particularly Renaissance and early Baroque music from Italy. Fenlon was born to Albert Fenlon and Joan Fe ...

— ''Music, Print, and Culture in Early Sixteenth-Century Italy'' ** Published as: Fenlon, Iain. ''Music, Print and Culture in Early Sixteenth-Century Italy''. The Panizzi Lectures 1994. London: British Library, 1995. * 1993 — Colin G. C. Tite — ''The Manuscript Library of Sir Robert Cotton'' ** Published as: Tite, Colin G.C. ''The Manuscript Library of Sir Robert Cotton''. The Panizzi Lectures 1993. London: British Library, 1994. * 1992 — — ''Hebrew Manuscripts of East and West: Towards a Comparative Codicology'' ** Published as: Beit-Arié, Malachi. ''Hebrew Manuscripts of East and West: Towards a Comparative Codicology''. The Panizzi Lectures 1992. London: British Library, 1993. * 1991 — — ''The English Book in Eighteenth-Century Germany'' ** Published as: Fabian, Bernhard. ''The English Book in Eighteenth-Century Germany''. The Panizzi Lectures 1991. London: British Library, 1992. * 1990 — J. B. Trapp — ''Erasmus, Colet, and More: The Early Tudor Humanists and Their Books'' ** Published as: Trapp, J.B. ''Erasmus, Colet, and More: The Early Tudor Humanists and Their Books''. The Panizzi Lectures 1990. London: British Library, 1991.

1980s series

* 1989 — J. P. Gumbert — ''The Dutch and Their Books in the Manuscript Age'' ** Published as: Gumbert, J.P. ''The Dutch and Their Books in the Manuscript Age''. The Panizzi Lectures 1989. London: British Library, 1990. * 1988 — Giles Barber — ''Daphnis and Chloë: The Markets and Metamorphoses of an Unknown Bestseller'' ** Published as: Barber, Giles. ''Daphnis and Chloe: The Markets and Metamorphoses of an Unknown Bestseller''. The Panizzi Lectures 1988. London: British Library, 1989. * 1987 — K. W. Humphreys — ''A National Library in Theory and in Practice'' ** Published as: Humphreys, K.W. ''A National Library in Theory and in Practice''. The Panizzi Lectures 1987. London: British Library, 1988. * 1986 — T. A. Birrell — ''English Monarchs and Their Books: From Henry VII to Charles II'' ** Published as: Birrell, T.A. ''English Monarchs and Their Books: From Henry VII to Charles II''. The Panizzi Lectures 1986. London: British Library, 1987. * 1985 — D. F. McKenzie — ''Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts'' ** Published as: McKenzie, D.F. ''Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts''. The Panizzi Lectures 1985. London: The British Library, 1986.

References

{{Books * British lecture series Textual scholarship