In this Research and Academic Program lecture, Kristina Richardson (University of Virginia) examines how historians and art historians have a responsibility to demystify their sources. By looking beyond the elevated status of print as a “fetish,” we are provided with a new, essential recognition of both the social conditions of its production and the role it plays in social reproduction.

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event.

Image: Making Books in a Garden (detail), India, Deccan, Auragabad; 17th century. David Collection, Copenhagen, Inv. No. 45/1980