Aaron T. Pratt

Candidate statement

Aaron T. Pratt, Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts, Harry Ransom Center, and Lecturer, Department of English, The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Pratt’s research focuses on bibliography, the history of the book, and the literature and culture of early modern England. He has published on early English print, particularly playbooks and Bibles, and he is currently completing a monograph, English Playbooks Revisited. Among other things, he is responsible for the care and interpretation of cuneiform tablets, papyrus fragments, and Ethiopian and Islamic manuscripts, and he has been a leading proponent of studying VHS cassettes and their packaging as important cultural—yes, textual—artifacts. In addition to having served in full-time library and faculty positions, Pratt for a time ran a business selling antiquarian books to research institutions, and he has at various points been an active collector of early books, VHS tapes, and punk zines. You can find more on Twitter (@aarontpratt) and his personal website (http://aarontpratt.com). To SHARP’s Board of Directors, he would bring a perspective informed by his experience wearing all of these hats and a resulting commitment to advocating for and connecting different bookish communities within the organization. His responsibilities at the Ransom Center often prioritize communicating online and to mixed—often public—audiences, and he would like to help SHARP reach outward more, too, with programming and other initiatives designed to connect the exciting research of its membership with broader communities.