Margaret (Peggy) McFadden Smith
  I left Rancho intending to major in mathematics, but it didn't work out quite like that. Instead I live in England and work on old books. My path to becoming a historian of the design of 15th-century printed books included study in history (BA Stanford 1966), and in library school (MA Chicago 1970), followed by a research degree (PhD Cambridge 1984).In between and/or simultaneously with these I had experience as an archivist/rare book librarian, a bookbinder, and a full-time project researcher in literary manuscripts. Eventually I became a university teacher (University of Reading, Department of Typography & Graphic Communication), and organizer of several conferences on the physical nature of medieval manuscripts and early printed books, as well as active in the Printing Historical Society (currently Chairman). Quite a few publications were part of this, including one on the beginnings of page numbering in books, a book on the early development of the title-page, and most recently work on the problem of red (why they used it and how they replaced it, etc.; forthcoming if I can ever get back to it). Since retirement in 2005 I've become project manager on a house of the 1830s that we didn't think needed so much work, and active in the local museum, called The Ancient House. Clare in rural Suffolk (45mins from Cambridge) has exciting medieval history, so I don't have to abandon my normal period of interest. My husband, Richard, is Head of Geography at Cambridge University. ~Peggy Smith~ |
 Margaret (Peggy McFadden) Smith - March 2006 |
 Dr. Margaret Smith - Retirement 2005 |
 Richard and Margaret (McFadden) Smith - Beijing University - September 2005 |
|