The College Art Association selected Bloom - who shares the Calderwood Chair with his wife, Sheila Blair - as the winner of its Charles Rufus Morey Award for a Distinguished Book in the History of Art. The award is one of seven for art-historical writing and art criticism that will be presented in New York City on Feb. 19 as part of the CAA's 91st Annual Conference.
Paper Before Print explores how the use of paper in Islamic lands during the Middle Ages influenced almost every aspect of medieval life, and how it served as a crucial agent of cultural transmission in the era before the invention of printing.
Last fall, the book earned honorable mention in the history category of the Alpha Sigma Nu National Jesuit Book Awards.
Other CAA award winners include: Thomas P. Campbell, associate curator for European sculpture and decorative arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Ernst van de Wetering, professor of art history at the University of Amsterdam; and New York Times art critic Roberta Smith.
-Sean Smith