Ian Dooley
PhD student
Ian has a double major BA in English and Philosophy and an MI (specializing in library science) from Rutgers University. Ian has an MA in the History of the Book from the School of Advanced Study. As a former special collections worker, their research builds on a career focused on book history with a special interest in nineteenth century literature, illustration, and printing.
Research
Thesis: ‘Printing Ink Manufacturing in Britain and Its Impact on Print Culture and Society: 1850-1900’.
The history of industrialized ink making remains untold. Ian’s thesis will be the first major study of printing ink manufacturing in Britain from 1850-1900, exploring developments in the industry after the hand press period. Ian’s research draws a missing link between the business decisions, technological innovations, and chemical experimentations of British ink manufactures and the technological and visual developments of printing during the late nineteenth century. While using a book historical approach Ian draws from the history of science to argue that printed matter became chemical-industrial products through the material influence of an overlooked but key ingredient for book production: ink. These chemical changes to the production methods and composition of ink influenced the outputs of new printing machines and the visual features of new printing techniques forever changing how printed matter was produced, who it was for, and what it looked like.