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Faculty

Ronald D. Patkus Associate Director of the Libraries for Special Collections and Adjunct Associate Professor of History on the Frederick Weyerhaeuser Chair

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. 

  • BA, Boston College; MLS, Simmons College; MA, University of Connecticut; PhD, Boston College
  • At Vassar since 2000

Contact

Research and Academic Interests

  • History of the book
  • History of private and fine press printing
  • History of the Bible

Departments and Programs

Courses

  • GRST/MEDS 289. 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)

In the Media

A Map to Our Treasures

Special Collections is nearing the end of a six-year project to catalogue more than 25,000 books, folios, and other items, providing a digital record of the full contents of the Archives and Special Collections that will be available to faculty, students, and researchers around the world.

Photos

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Photo: Karl Rabe/ Vassar College
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.
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