Ronald D. Patkus

Ronald Patkus is a native of Connecticut. He received a BA from Boston College (1986), an MA and Certificate in Archival Management from the University of Connecticut (1987), an MS in Library Science from Simmons College (1993), and a PhD in History from Boston College (1997). Mr. Patkus serves as Associate Director of the Libraries for Special Collections and is a member of the History Department. He holds the Frederick Weyerhaeuser Endowed Chair in Biblical Literature and Bibliography. His teaching and research interests focus on the history of books and printing.
Ronald Patkus is a native of Connecticut. He received a BA from Boston College (1986), an MA and Certificate in Archival Management from the University of Connecticut (1987), an MS in Library Science from Simmons College (1993), and a PhD in History from Boston College (1997). He serves as Associate Director of the Libraries for Special Collections and is a member of the History Department. He holds the Frederick Weyerhaeuser Endowed Chair in Biblical Literature and Bibliography. He sits on the Media Studies Steering Committee. He is also the Library Liaison to the departments of German Studies and Italian. His teaching and research interests focus on the history of books and printing. He has produced and edited a number of books and articles, including bibliographies of the Thornwillow Press and Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press. Most recently Oak Knoll Press published his book The Privately Printed Bible: Private and Fine Press Editions of Biblical Texts in the British Isles and North America, 1892-2000 (2017). He is currently expanding this study by focusing on Europe. Mr. Patkus has received grants for study from the British Council, the Rotary Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University. He presently offers courses on The Printed Bible and The Book in America (both in Media Studies) and co-teaches The History of the Book (Media Studies), Detectives in the Archives: Reading Medieval and Renaissance Texts (Medieval and Renaissance Studies), and Homer's Odyssey: From Oral Composition to Digital Editions (Greek and Roman Studies). Previously he co-taught The Reformation Era and The Bible as Book (Media Studies). In addition, he offers classes on primary sources in the library to students in a variety of courses.
Contact
Box 20
Research and Academic Interests
History of the book
History of private and fine press printing
History of the Bible
Departments and Programs
Courses
MEDS/MRST 220 Medieval and Renaissance Culture
AMST/MEDS 248 The Book in America
MEDS 249 The Book: A Global History
GRST/MEDS 205 Homer's Odyssey: From Oral Composition to Digital Editions
Selected Publications
The Privately Printed Bible: Private and Fine Press Editions of Biblical Texts in the British Isles and North America, 1892-2000 (2017)
“The Age of Alice: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Nonsense in Victorian England,” in The Age of Alice: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Nonsense in Victorian England, (2015)
“The Nuremberg Chronicle: Background, Production, Legacy,” in Never Before Has Your Like Been Printed: The Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, (2014)
Shirley Jones and the Red Hen Press (2013)
“Building a Repository of Artists’ Books from the Women’s Studio Workshop,” Hand, Voice & Vision: Artists’ Books from the Women’s Studio Workshop, (2010)
Ars Omnia Tuetur: 25 Years of Fine Printing at the Thornwillow Press (2010)
Grants, Fellowships, Honors, Awards
Bridwell Library Fellowship (Southern Methodist University), 2016, 2019.
Tatlock Fund for Strategic Faculty Research, 2014, 2015, 2016.
Katharine Kyes Leab & Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Award, 2005, 2007, 2014.
Vassar Research Committee Grant, 2008, 2010.
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar on "The Reformation of the Book, 1450-1700."
Checkpoint Charlie Foundation (Berlin) Project Subsidy, 2005.
Initiative Fortbildung Tour of German Libraries, 2003.