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Page 125 Vol. 67, No. 4, Winter 2003 Mississippi Libraries
periods are reflected in a book through its
physical components and the way they
are assembled. Examples from the Cushing
Library’s special collections provide
more tangible examples of book history.
Guest scholars showcase unique perspectives
through valuable and entertaining
talks every evening. The 2003 workshop
brought engineer Henry Petroski of
Duke University to discuss the history of
the bookshelf, University of Texas historian
Ron Tyler enlightened workshop participants
on the eccentric American hero
John James Audubon, and Paul Needham,
curator for Princeton’s Schiede
Library, reported on the discovery of the
Gutenberg Bible. For those who cannot
get enough background material, lunch
breaks may be spent viewing bookish
documentaries.
The real fun begins when the gang
heads upstairs to the processing area.
Before I knew what was happening, I had
donned a plastic helmet, lab coat, and
goggles while waiting to cast my very own
piece of type. The pouring of molten lead
did not come naturally, but I turned out an
okay P and will show it to anyone without
much provocation. I composed a short
poem, meaning I set the type in a composing
stick. Pieces of type are stored in
type cases, incidentally, where the large or
“upper case” letters are kept on top, and
the small or “lower case” letters are sorted
at the bottom. Next I imposed the text in
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
a form, inked it up, and produced a print.
After switching a couple of bs and ds
around, I went through the process once
more and came out with a pretty good
sample of early printing.
Stephen Pratt’s working replica of the
traditional hand press allowed us to imitate
historic printers. We learned how to
make ink balls and “beat” the ink, and
even made the paper on which we printed
the text before sewing it into take-home
pamphlets. I made a printer’s hat and
wore it almost every day. It was sort of
like a camp really, but with more Ph.D.s.
The nature of the workshop limits registration
to twenty. Many of my classmates
were library science professors
teaching book history courses, while others
were librarians, archivists and others
interested in the mechanics of printing.
Library science students from the University
of North Texas and the Pratt Institute
in New York City took the course for
semester credit.
The History of Books and Printing
overview and practical experience complements
Rare Book School in a laidback
and somewhat jolly way. Printing
quality work is tough, and we were
relieved that no one was counting on us
to do a great job. What we learned was
the painstaking evolution of the printed
word and what it tells us about our world,
the value of repositories that preserve fine
and not-so-fine examples of our biblioheritage,
and an appreciation for the craft
itself. Rare Book School will continue to
provide timely courses on meaningful
topics. Librarians should review the
course listings for potential visits to Charlottesville,
but set aside a week in May for
College Station.
On Rare Book School:
Rare Book School, PO Box 400103, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-
4103; fax 434-924-8824; e-mail oldbooks@virginia.edu or call 434-924-8851.
http://www.virginia.edu/oldbooks/bulletin/
On the Texas A&M Book History Workshop:
The third annual Book History at A&M Workshop is tentatively scheduled for May
16-21, 2004. For registration and other information on the 2003 Workshop e-mail
stevensmith@tamu.edu or call 979-845-1951.
http://lib-oldweb.tamu.edu/cushing/bookhistory/2003photos.htm
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Binding periodicals and rebinding
books in quality bindings is our
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Less expensive Adhesive Type Bindings
available upon request.
We take pride that our workmanship,
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