A Letterpress Legacy, online exhibition, University of Otago Library, Dunedin, New Zealand

Dartmouth College Library Book Arts Workshop leaflets

The 2016 Book Arts Workshop instructors at Dartmouth College are Sarah M. Smith (the first full-time Manager since Nash's retirement in the 1970s), Robert Metzler, Deborah Howe, and Won K. Chung. Local artists such as Stephanie Wolff also assist. Together they teach letterpress printing, bookbinding, illustration techniques, and other aspects of making books and other printed materials. Not only is a hands-on approach encouraged, but also active involvement with the rest of the Dartmouth College community. The Book Arts Workshop is situated in Rooms 21-25 in the Baker-Berry Library.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth College

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923) by Robert Frost with 'Welcome to Dartmouth'

American poet Robert Frost (1874–1963) attended Dartmouth College in 1892. Although Frost did not graduate, his legacy to Dartmouth College is lasting. The College Library houses one of the finest Frost Collections in the world: printed books, manuscripts and notebooks, correspondence, photographs and audio recordings. In 2010, Xin Su, a PhD student, took a break from his studies in Chemistry (graduating 2014), and printed Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, first written in 1922 and published in his New Hampshire (1923).

___, 2010. Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop

Dartmouth College Library building wood block

Chemistry student Xin Su used a wood-block depicting the Dartmouth Hall building to illustrate a Robert Frost poem that he printed in 2010. The block was apparently cut in the 1980s.

___, c. 1980. Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop

Book binding model

Students using the Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop have access to two Vandercook electric presses, two iron hand presses, one treadle press, and a wide variety of metal and wooden type (Bank Script to 4-line Round Gothic), including characters for French, German, Greek, Hebrew and Spanish typesetting. There is also a stock of papers, book-binding tools, and guillotines to assist the book-making process. The Ray Nash Book Collection is nearby to provide inspiration. Here binding is represented by Sarah Smith's work: a polka-dotted quarter-bound book.

___, c. 2013. Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop

The Book Arts Chicken

One of the woodblocks from the Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop.

___, c. 1970 (?). Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Book Arts chicken print

Printed ephemera from the studio at Dartmouth.

___, c. 2013. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Join the Dartmouth Book Arts Listserv

Printed ephemera produced in the studio at Dartmouth.

___, c. 2013. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Rebirth, School, Work, Death

In the early days of Dartmouth's Book Arts Workshop (when it was called the Graphic Arts Workshop) William H. Germer III applied his print and visual skills to produce this broadside. He no doubt took to heart Stevenson's adage that 'true success is to labor', producing a delightful mix of text and visuals. The initials are particularly striking.

___, August, 1994. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Lost for Words

The mission of the Book Arts Workshop is to introduce students to the craft of letterpress printing and hand bookbinding; to promote an understanding of the art and history of the printed and written word; and to expose the College community to the rich library resources available to them for scholarly research into the history of the book. Seminars and workshops are regularly scheduled, and each year a Book Arts Prize for excellence in printing and bookbinding is offered. Biology student Diane Jang was one who enjoyed the Book Arts experience. Her selection of words in Lost for Words (2015) created a work that communicated both visually and verbally.

___, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Taino Myths

Pressure printing is an alternative image-making technique by which a flexible plate (backing sheet) is placed behind the press sheet and run over a type-high, inked surface. The resulting image is made up of haloing ink from varying degrees of pressure from the backing sheet. Bridget Herrara used this technique to create Taino Myths (2012). The work was inspired by the annotations of Friar Ramon Pane, who was commissioned by Christopher Columbus in 1495 to live amongst the indigenous people of the island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) and transcribe their tribal beliefs and practices. Herrara printed on the Vandercook Press SP-20 using Stonehenge paper, which is thick enough to take the pressure. This limited edition of five won the Hand Book-binding Prize for 2012.

___, 2012. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

The Barber Paradox

Ann Dunham is attached to the Mathematics Department at Dartmouth College. After tackling assignments on 3- or n-body gravitating problems and applying deterministic chaos to numerically generate music or an art piece, The Barber Paradox was no doubt a breeze to her. However, even though a fun item that is a reminder of past childhood games, it represents a complex piece of printing. It was completed in 2014 in an edition of three. The Barber image is extra!

___, 2014. Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop

Ray Nash

When Ray Nash (1905-1982) arrived at Dartmouth in 1937, he made things happen. He started a graphic arts workshop, and from the beginning enthused students with courses on graphic arts and bibliography. As book designer, calligrapher and historian of graphic design, he continued his role as mentor and instructor until his retirement in 1970. He favoured a hands-on print-making approach, which was a great favourite with many students, many of whom became successful and influential book designers and typographers in their own right. He was not just a practitioner. He wrote books and articles, including his seminal 'Education in a Workshop'. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the Society of Antiquaries of London. This photograph was taken in 1970, the year of his retirement.

___, 1970. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

'Ornamented Types in America', by Ray Nash in Nineteenth Century Ornamented Typeface

As a man dedicated to the printed page (encompassing paper, ink, and type) Nash was well-versed in the intricacies of American type design. Nicolette Gray recognised his expertise and included his 'Ornamented Types in America' within her book.

Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976. Special Collections Z250 A2 GS27

Graphic Arts Workshop sign

A permanent plaque was created to commemorate the re-establishment of the Graphic Arts Workshop at Dartmouth College and Ray Nash's pioneering work. Nash's son John, a well-known calligrapher now based in London, was responsible for the stone sign, the last brush lettering and letter-carving jobs he did for the Baker Library, Dartmouth.

___, 1990. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Letter to Edward Connery Lathem

In 1989-90, three of Ray Nash's students – Mark Lansburgh, Roderick Stinehour, and Edward C. Lathem – re-established the Graphic Arts Workshop at Dartmouth College, aided by a generous endowment from philanthropists Kenneth and Harle Montgomery. A permanent plaque was created to commemorate both the event and Ray Nash's pioneering work. Nash's son John is a well-known calligrapher now based in London. Here is his beautifully crafted letter to Lathem, emeritus librarian and dean, hinting at some small changes to the text of the final version of the plaque.

___, 6 March, 1990. Papers of Edward C. Lathem. MS-965 Box 11: Graphic Arts Workshop No.1 folder. Rauner Special Collections

'As a Practitioner and an Historian of His Art' by Alvin Eisenman in Ray Nash and the Graphic Workshop at Dartmouth College.

Ray Nash was mentor to Alvin Eisenman (1921-2013), an American graphic designer and educator well-known for founding the Yale School of Art's graduate programme in graphic design. Eisenman was a Dartmouth College undergraduate who was influenced by Nash and his professed functionalism towards design. Eisenman wrote that Nash was 'a very wily teacher who knew how to put to good use the passing enthusiasm of a lazy student!' While at Yale Eisenman recruited design masters like Alvin Lustig and Herbert Matter, and had among his students Garry Trudeau, the author of the comic strip Doonesbury, and Min Wang, who designed graphics for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Here are Eisenman's reflections on Nash and Dartmouth.

Hanover, New Hampshire, The Friends of the Dartmouth Library, 1987. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Ray Nash and David B. Grinnell

In response to Ray Nash's 'sink or swim' approach to learning, David B. Grinnell said to him one day: 'If you aren't going to teach us, I'll do the job myself.' Nash's reply was: 'You know, Grinnell, there might be a glimmer of hope for you yet!'

___, c. 1950. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Robert Frost woodcut

Dartmouth student, Dr Richard Lessow, now an ENT specialist in Connecticut, sent two images through to Sarah Smith for the recent 25th Anniversary celebrations for Nash and the Book Arts Workshop. This image of Robert Frost was executed in early February, 1963.

___, February, 1963. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Boat engraving

Engraving by Dr Richard Lessow, given to Sarah Smith to commemorate the Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop 25th Anniversary.

___, March, 1963. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

RN. A Fresh Approach

'Graphic Art…takes in the considerable sweep of human activity devoted to the making and manifolding of visual symbols based on drawing and writing.' So wrote Ray Nash in 1940. This piece was reprinted by Roderick Stinehour in RN. A Fresh Approach, a festschrift celebrating Nash's 50th birthday on 25th February 1955. Grinnell also contributed, proving that Nash was right about his potential. The reverse image on the left is by the New York-based Stanley Rice, another of Nash's students, who was a pioneer in computer typeset design.

___, February 1955. Ray Nash Papers. MS-1076, Box 25, folder 14. Rauner Special Collections

Edward Connery Lathem and Roderick 'Rocky' Stinehour

Edward Connery Lathem, Librarian of Dartmouth College from 1968-1978, and Roderick 'Rocky' Stinehour, printer and owner of Meriden Stinehour Press led – along with Mark Lansburgh – the revival of the Graphic Arts Workshop at Dartmouth. While Lathem stayed at Dartmouth, Stinehour moved to Lunenburg where he began his Stinehour Press. The press' international reputation meant that its publications are found in museums and libraries around the world. In 1981, Dartmouth bestowed an honorary degree of Doctor of Literature to Stinehour. He died in July 2016, aged 91. Here both men peruse Your Son, Calvin Coolidge, a work edited by Lathem and chosen as one of the Fifty Best Books of the Year (1968-1969) by the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

___, 1969. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

The Great Snow or Grandmother's Story

Ray Nash found the manuscript of this narrative at an antique dealer's barn in Vermont in 1938. Edward Lathem printed a portion of The Great Snow of Grandmother's Story, presumably set – as printed – in 1816, 'the legendary years “eighteen hundred and froze to death.”' It is a very creditable piece of printing.

___, 1949. Ray Nash Papers. MS-1076, Box 25, folder 5: Teaching: Student Works, 1948-49. Rauner Special Collections

Mark Lansburgh Jr

The third musketeer in the Book Arts revival was Mark Lansburgh, who after Dartmouth spent his career as an art historian, teaching and lecturing at colleges and universities such as Colorado College, Stanford and New York University. Aside from his printing skills, Lansburgh was also a collector, amassing a fine collection of ledger drawings that chronicle the life of the Native American. These items were gifted to Dartmouth. Here Lansburgh peruses a sheet, no doubt printed on one of the presses at Dartmouth.

___, 1949. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Leaves by the Wayside

A colophon (from the Greek meaning 'summit' or 'finishing touch') is often employed in many private press books to give a brief statement on the publication of a book such as the place of publication, the publisher, the date of publication, and often issue numbers. Printed using Lydian italics, Mark Lansburgh's colophon gives such details, including the consumption of a Thanksgiving dinner. The book of poetry once belonged to Lloyd K. Neidlinger (1902-1978), a Dartmouth College football player who was Class of 1923, and later Dean of the College, 1934-1952.

___, 1948. Ray Nash Papers. MS-1076, Box 26. Rauner Special Collections

The Lake: To -

David Godine was a Dartmouth student in the 1960s. One small piece that he completed while on campus was this Edgar Allan Poe poem: The Lake: To - , part of a collaborative print exercise with other students. Since graduation, Godine continued in the 'book' world. He worked for Leonard Baskin, the renowned typographer and printmaker, and Harold McGrath, his master printer. Godine now runs a small publishing company in Boston, producing well-crafted books, especially in the fields of photography, graphic arts, and contemporary world literature in translation.

Printed by David Godine, 1965, 1827. Ray Nash Papers. MS-1076, Box 25, folder 18. Rauner Special Collections

Jack and the Bean-Stalk

Stephen Harvard was a book designer, illustrator, calligrapher, letter-cutter, and at one time, Vice-President of The Stinehour Press (founded by Dartmouth alum, Roderick Stinehour). He was schooled by Ray Nash. Harvard also designed digital types for Adobe. His interest in print and press history, the alphabet and lettering, and the notion that printers like to expound their art to children led to this delightful new version of the old classic Jack and the Bean-Stalk. Harvard used the edition printed by Boston type-founder T.H. Carter in 1837 as his exemplar. This item is usually housed at the Baker Library, Dartmouth.

___, 1970. Ray Nash Papers. MS-1076, Box 26. Rauner Special Collections

The Twelve Summer Book Arts Workshops of Roderick D. Stinehour at the Dartmouth College 1990 to 2001 portfolio

In celebration of Stinehour's 80th birthday, a number of exhibitions and talks occurred at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire in 2005; the topics a veritable feast for any printer, designer, and book lover. This is the keepsake for these events.

___, 23 March, 2005. Dartmouth College Library Alumni Archives, S861twe

The Rights of Man

'Rocky' Stinehour went on to run his own successful Stinehour Press. This edition of Thomas Paine's Rights of Man is the sixth in a series of fine books produced by the Limited Edition Club. It was designed by Stinehour, who chose 14-point Bulmer type on an 18-point base for the text and Typo Upright type for the headings. It was also printed at the Stinehour Press. The art work is by the American illustrator Lynd Ward.

Lunenberg, Vermont: Printed for members of the Limited Editions Club at the Stinehour Press, 1961. Special Collections JC177 B3 1961

Letter to Edward Connery Lathem

Michael Parkinson was at Dartmouth in the class of 1991. In this letter to Lathem, he extols the virtues of 'how incredible' it was to have access to the presses and type in the Book Art Workshops.

___, 15 December, 1990. Papers of Edward C. Lathem. MS-965, Box 11: Graphic Arts Workshop No.2 folder. Rauner Special Collections

Holiday Greeting

Michael Parkinson – who once used the non-de-plume of Michael Titus Parkes when producing an image entitled Mr. and Mrs. Warhol – printed this 'Holiday Greeting', inking up an 'H' from an alphabet called Stonehedge, and adding text using Palatino type.

___, 1990. Papers of Edward C. Lathem. MS-965, Box 11: Graphic Arts Workshop No.2 folder. Rauner Special Collections

Poor Richard & His Printer - A Promotional Flyer for Graphic Arts Summer Workshop

Poor Richard & His Printer flyer was printed as part of the 1990 celebrations of re-establishment of the Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop.

___, August, 1990. Papers of Edward C. Lathem. MS-965, Box 11: Graphic Arts Workshop No.2 folder. Rauner Special Collections

On the Teaching and Writing of History: Responses to a Series of Questions

In 1977 the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Endowment was established at Dartmouth to 'provide for the advancement of the academic realm of the college…making possible new dimensions for, as well as extraordinary enrichments to, the educational experience.' In 1990 their generosity extended to the Book Arts, funding the first Fellow - 'Rocky' Stinehour. The Endowment assisted in other ways: American historian Bernard Bailyn's book on teaching and writing history was supported by the Montgomery Endowment. Printed at the Stinehour Press, this work was designed and edited by Dartmouth's Edward C. Lathem. Kenneth F. Montgomery was a 1925 Dartmouth College graduate.

Hanover, New Hampshire: Montgomery Endowment Dartmouth College, 1994. Central D16.2 B435

Won K. Chung

Won K. Chung has a graphic design background, having studied at Yale under designer Alvin Eisenman. By using the pangram 'The quick brown fox...' he elaborates on the visual aspects of lettering and spacing.

___, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Robert Metzler

Robert Metzler, a stalwart at the Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop and a devotee of letterpress printing, was given his first printing press at the age of 10. Metzler was hired by Rocky Stinehour to teach letterpress printing, and like the best instructors, he begins each class with the question: 'What do you want to print?'

___, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Ghost in the Shell

Ran Zhuo's work was inspired by Masamune Shirow's original manga, Ghost in the Shell. She used images and text from the adapted movies Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which tells the story of cyborg detective, Batou, and his quest to retain what is left of his 'humanness'. A double major in Economics and Mathematics with a 'strong interest in Computer Science', Ran incorporated common programming symbols in the text. Her work, she has said, is meant to question 'what makes a human, human'. Produced using a combination of letterpress, digital, and pressure printing, Ran won the 2015 Book Arts Grand Prize.

___, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

From Abbeville to Zuni Pueblo

From Abbeville to Zuni Pueblo was a collaborative work, the result of a class project for a Book Arts Studio seminar. Various states of America have been cut out in coloured paper and stuck to a map, while the names of towns and the miles between them have been printed on top. The whole has been bound in a concertina style.

___, October, 2011. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

The Mill on the Floss

'I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.' So wrote George Eliot in The Mill on the Floss (1860). Eliot is one of Amanda Carye's favourite authors. In 2007 she printed the text on paper, cut it up and placed it on thicker card. She then arranged the text in an accordion style binding, hinging each component with paper. The creation of the box was learnt in the Book Arts Workshop. This 'out of the box' creation, a perfect combination of letterpress and bookbinding, gained an 'Honorable Mention' in the Book Arts Awards, 2007.

Printed by Amanda Carye, 2007, 1860. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Wood Type Specimens

Using wooden type acquired by Dartmouth in 2005, Won K. Chung has done a superb job of printing the various faces to form a very useful type specimen book. The printing was done on a Vandercook SP20 proof press using Mohawk Superfine paper. Printing wooden type involves more inking and a great deal of pressure to get the right impression; the imperfections of such pieces are wonderful by-products. In printing this work Chung had advice from Bob Metzler, his colleague at Dartmouth.

___, 2007-08. Dartmouth College Arts Workshop

Selections

During her time at Dartmouth, Stephanie Han supervised the graphic design team for Dartmouth College's student-run daily newspaper, and was a research assistant; she now works as a financial analyst for Castalia, a Washington agency that advises corporations and Governments on strategy, organization, and management. In 2011, Stephanie typeset this verse selection by English poet A. E. Housman in 14 point Caslon and printed it on the Vandercook press. This simple but elegant limited edition of 20 secured her the Book Arts Grand Prize for 2011.

Printed by Stephanie Han, 2011, [1896]. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

3 Poems by Jack Gilbert

Taking part in the Book Arts Programme at Dartmouth enabled History and Studio Art student, Do-Hee Kim, 'to gain more experience with typography and design' and 'enhance [her] liberal arts education'. She printed three of Jack Gilbert's poems on the Vandercook press. The American's work appealed to Do-Hee's romantic side; she describes his poetry as 'painfully emotional' but still 'relatable' and 'accessible'. Gilbert (1925-2012) had a long career, mostly as an ex-patriate living in Europe. He gained a strong following, even though he was off the 'literary radar'. The poem 'Married' may have been written after Gilbert's Japanese wife, Michiko Nogami, died of cancer. Do-Hee Kim is now an established graphic designer in San Francisco.

___, 2011. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

An Apple Gathering

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), an English-born poet of Italian descent, was well versed in the works of Dante and Petrarch. It is no surprise then that Christina wrote prose and poetry, beginning when quite young. Patricia Stone was never a student at Dartmouth, but the Book Arts Workshop allows members of the community to make use of the studio free of charge. Patricia's version of Rossetti's An Apple Gathering (first published in 1862) was printed in a class taught by Won K. Chung. The text is printed in Caslon Old Style type, with an appropriate apple green cover and some apple green ink. Her work won the Community Prize in 2014. This copy is number 9 of 20.

Printed by Patricia Stone, 2013, 1862. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Hippocratic Oath

While at Dartmouth College, Amelia Raether studied International Relations and Government. It was only after graduation, while working in a job on campus, that she became involved in the Book Arts Programme. Amelia produced several pieces in the Workshop, starting off small with postcards and posters. Her version of the Hippocratic Oath was inspired by her peers' medical school endeavours. She wanted to make a gift for them and remind them 'of the role and responsibilities they've accepted as physicians'. Since leaving Dartmouth, Amelia has moved to Washington DC and works in management consulting.

___, 2014. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Immaginaviaggio

Aeroplanes, clouds, and hail feature in this broadside of Italian phrases printed as a collaborative exercise by students in an Italian III class at Dartmouth in 2014. The students thought that by setting the type, and by touching the letters and words, they could learn the language in a more tactile way.

___, 2014. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Resigned

Cover of Campbell's Resigned.

___, 2012. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Resigned

Boston-born Taylor R. Campbell was obviously intrigued by the now cult 1967 British television show The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan. His colourfully bound, printed, and illustrated Resigned contains dialogue between Number Six (McGoohan) and Number Two, the Village administrator acting as a monitoring agent for an unseen 'Number One'. Campbell won the 2012 Book Arts Grand Prize of $500 for this work, a mix of polymer plate printing and traditional letterpress.

___, 2012. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Merry CrHISTMAs

In 2010, Xin Su, a PhD Chemistry graduate, printed this Christmas card that looks like the periodical table.

___, 2010. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Chemistry – It's elemental!

In 2009 Xin Su, a PhD Chemistry graduate, mixed science and art, producing this ephemera item: a National Chemistry Week broadside. Although he never took a letterpress course, he became intrigued with Book Arts after taking a few book binding sessions and copperplate calligraphy classes. He admitted he learnt a lot from the experienced letterpress instructors at Dartmouth.

___, 2009. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Vwls

Carly Schnitzler enrolled in the Book Arts Programme after being introduced to Sarah Smith and letterpress printing through an English course at Dartmouth. In her own words she explains the inspiration behind her work, Vwls: 'Christian Bok is a Toronto-based conceptual poet and his collection, Eunoia is a very conceptually rigid exploration of English-language vowels. I wanted to flip his concept on its head by physically removing the vowels from each of the first five lines of his five vowel-specific poems, creating a constellation of holes where the most operative letters in words used to be.' This piece is a combination of pressure and letterpress printing; and the vowels were removed with a Japanese screw punch tool – a laborious process but impressive looking!

Printed by Carly Schnitzler, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

February 2016

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (Online, 2016), a 'broadsheet' is a 'large sheet of paper printed on one side only'. This broadsheets was produced in a letterpress orientation workshop at Dartmouth earlier this year.

___, 2016. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

March 7th, 2016

In a letterpress orientation workshop earlier this year, each workshop participant set a few lines of type which were then combined to make up broadsheet pieces. This is a 'sampler' of typefaces and decorative rules and no doubt the participants learned valuable lessons regarding spacing and justification of type while setting them out.

___, 2016. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Hard bound book binding model

The Book Arts Workshop at Dartmouth teaches students from all courses, for no extra charge, 'letterpress printing, bookbinding, illustration techniques and other aspects of making books and other printed materials'. This small books is just one sample of various bookbinding techniques which are made in the workshop at Dartmouth – secret Belgian binding; long stitch binding on leather thongs; fastback perfect or adhesive binding; hard and limp cover bindings; and quarter bound.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Book binding model

Example of a fast back, hard cover book binding technique.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Book Binding model

Book binding model sewn on leather thongs.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Hard cover stitched book binding model

Example of a sewn book binding technique.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

'Butterfly Book' Book binding model

Example of a book binding technique.

___, 2004. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Hard cover 'Appointment Book'

Example of a book binding technique.

___, 2008. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Ochre string Book binding model

Example of bookbinding technique.

___, c. 2013. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Word Play

Word Play displays a mix of quotes, phrases and typography. The students - Fernandez, Bass, Widerschein, Pacia, and others – obviously had fun in constructing this assembled work, although setting the chair image in type would have its own particular frustrations.

___, Winter 2014. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop Keepsake

In 2015 the Dartmouth College Book Arts programme celebrated its 25th Anniversary. As a keepsake for this occasion, Book Arts Workshop students printed cards that contained text and images that were enclosed in a cleverly constructed paper folder. One is a poem by Dr Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991). He graduated from Dartmouth in 1925. The other is a wintery tree image with the logo of Dartmouth College (1769). While Dartmouth's motto is Vox clamantis in deserto ('the voice of one crying out in the wilderness'; Isaiah 40:3), it could easily adopt the one printed: 'Shoot High Shoot Far…'

___, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

The Rover of Chao

Li Bai (701–762), also known as Li Bo, Li Po, and Ri Haku, has been regarded highly as a poet in China for many years. His reputation has also extended outside the East. Indeed, poets Ezra Pound (his Cathay, 1915) and the Japanese-born but U.S. educated Shigeyoshi Obata (1888-1971) are but two who have translated some of his poems. This sheet of Li Po's The Rover of Chao contains digitally printed Chinese characters and images, and traditional letterpress printing. Chemistry student Xiu Su was awarded the 2010 Letterpress Prize for his work.

Printed by Xin Su, 2010, c. 750. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Far back in the mists of time…' from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

An excerpt of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide... printed at Dartmouth.

Printed by Anne Peale, 2009, First published 1978. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Anne Peale speaks to her Hitchhiker's Guide printings: 'At Dartmouth, I was an English major and a Spanish minor. I took the Book Arts Course because I had been visiting the letterpress studio in my spare evenings since my freshman fall. I was thrilled at the chance to pursue my work in the studio and bindery for course credit… I've loved the Hitchhiker's Guide since my Dad first read it to me…[and] it seemed fitting to pair its absurd humor with a technology which requires hours of fiddling over apparently obsolescent machinery. Though they acknowledge the traditions and conventions of letterpress printing, the aim of these two pieces was to boldly split infinitives - and to playfully challenge a few assumptions about letterpress - where none had been split before.' After graduation, Peale was a Lathem Fellow at Dartmouth's Rauner Special Collections Library. She is now completing a PhD in historical geography at Edinburgh and plans to pursue a career in special collections librarianship.

Printed by Anne Peale, First published 1978. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

How to throw a pot

This colourful booklet detailing the process of 'throwing a pot' is a combination of letterpress and pressure printing. Some pages have cut-outs to highlight specific words.

___, 2014. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

'Dave the Potter' broadside

The African and African American Studies (AAAS) Programme at Dartmouth College originated in 1969, making it one of the oldest programs of its kind in the United States. AAAS 82 is a specific course focussing on the work of David Drake, a South Carolinian slave who made some of the largest ceramic storage vessels of this region, signing them and etching sayings and poems onto them as well. Students are encouraged to respond creatively to the content of the course. Jennifer Evans, an international student from Wales, produced her 'Dave the Potter' broadside, subtitling it 'Slavery between Pots and Poems'. During her time at Dartmouth Evans also enrolled in first-year writing, Russian language, and psychology.

___, c. 2013. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Winter Carnival 'Ambush Letterpress'

Each year in February, Dartmouth College holds its Winter Carnival. Often a 'pop-up' print activity is held, which encourages students to simply 'have a go' at printing. Tyler Luis Rivera used this 'ambush letterpress' opportunity to print his Winter Carnival poster that announces the obvious.

___, 2014. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Fever Dream

In 2016 Gina Campanelli begins her junior (third) year at Dartmouth College. She is an Art History major and took the Book Arts course to fill a requirement for her studies. Sparked by her interest in the bookmaking process, Gina discovered her latent artistic side at the studio. She printed and reprinted her work, Fever Dream, to 'create a more jumbled and claustrophobic' effect (reminding her of her own sickness induced nightmares); and stitched the red lettering to provide another visual element.

Gina Campanelli, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Why Me? One Letter's Journey towards Self-discovery

For the piece, Why Me? One Letter's Journey of Self-Discovery, Gina wrote and printed a story about the letter Y – is it a consonant or a vowel? Gina said she created 'personalities for the letters' and it is 'somewhat of a children's story about fitting in and stereotypes'. It is printed in 24-point Bulmer and the images are 'Xerox transfer of scanned wood type'.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

'You're Nothing but a Pack of Cards!' image by Arthur Rackham from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Dartmouth's English Department offers a paper called 'The Victorians through Six Children's Novels' in which students gain an 'understanding of the Victorians and Edwardians through ideas about childhood and orphanhood, literature, scientific discovery and invention, social history, the imagination and material culture.' It requires students to make use of the Book Arts Workshop. They must select an image from one of the prescribed texts, have it printed, set a relevant quotation in type and print it. This counts for ten percent of the class mark. For his project, Spencer Janes selected an image from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by British artist Arthur Rackham (1867-1939). Rackham was one of the most notable artists of the Golden Age of Illustration (c. 1890-1920).

Printed by Spencer Janes, 2014, First published 1865. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Isaiah 12: 2-5 from Letterpress Intensive Bilingual Poetry

Kirsten Ruth Ward has done a superb job of matching English and Hebrew texts in this printed sheet of Isaiah 12: 2-5. The sheet is part of Letterpress Intensive Bilingual Poetry, a portfolio package that also features poems printed in Greek, (in The Trojan Song), Latin (Catullus, XLVIII), and Welsh (Dafydd y Gareg Wen – David of the White Rock).

___, May 2016. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Letterpress Intensive Bilingual Poetry

This sheet is part of Letterpress Intensive Bilingual Poetry, a portfolio package.

___, May 2016. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Freda

As a way of highlighting the Matariki Network, Dartmouth College's Sarah M. Smith, Manager of their Book Arts Workshop, was invited to the University of Otago to be the Printer in Residence for 2016. The programme Sarah is involved in is a collaborative one, printing poems by Rhian Gallagher centred around Freda Du Faur, the first female mountaineer to scale Aoraki-Mt Cook, New Zealand's highest peak. The poems are enhanced by illustrations by the Dunedin artist Lynn Taylor. Here are a number of draft samples of that work in progress.

___, August 2016. Special Collections, University of Otago

The Important Thing is not…

This broadside was the result of an 'ambush' opportunity during Pride Week 2014, where students can 'have a go' at printing. The quote is taken from American writer, intellectual, and all-round polarising individual, Gore Vidal (1925-2012). Vidal refused to pigeonhole people with the words 'heterosexual' or 'homosexual' and the quote seems apt to use in Pride Week. The use of ink colour to produce a rainbow effect, a visual emblem of the LGBTQ community, is also apt.

Printed at Dartmouth 'printing pop up', 2014. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

There are now about as many… from Essay of Typography

Eric Gill (1882-1940) was a sculptor, stone cutter, engraver and typographer, who designed the typefaces such as Gill Sans and Perpetua. His quote – 'There are now about as many different varieties of letters as there are different kinds of fools' – printed on this broadsheet is taken from Gill's Essay of Typography (1931). In the essay, Gill bemoans the effects of industrialism, mechanisation, and mass production on the traditional crafts of typography and printing. It's an irony that this broadsheet printed at the Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop uses several different fonts.

Printed by James Mahoney's Digital Design Class, 2015, First published 1931. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Pressure

Dartmouth student, Phoebe Novello (Class of 2017) designed and printed this poster as part of the 25th Anniversary of the Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop in 2015. Reinstated after a twenty-year hiatus, the Books Arts Workshop offers free letterpress and bookbinding tuition to not only Dartmouth students but also members of the wider Dartmouth community. For this poster Phoebe used the technique of pressure printing where a flexible plate is run through the press behind the sheet to be printed. Anything flat and flexible can be used, like leaves, fabric including lace, and paper with cut-outs. This is known as an 'indirect impression' and is by nature never as clear cut an image as direct type-to-paper printing.

___, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

I picked at the corner of the sky…

Anne Muller's first attempt at engraving and letterpress printing is very impressive. Anne engraved her flower and leaf design on copper separately, passing it through the press first before fitting the type of a poem by a friend of her's in the space leftover. It is truly a triumph of creativity and design. Anne now works in the Book Arts Workshop helping fellow students to navigate the art of letterpress printing, while at the same time continuing her studies at Dartmouth.

___, 2016. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Mountains of Vermont

Engineering Physics graduate, Marie Schwalbe, grew up in Vermont with the Green Mountains as a backdrop to her everyday life that included hiking and snowboarding. The mountains run North to South for about 400 kilometres. Marie undertook this printing and binding project as part of the 'History of the Book' class in 2015. She cut the pages by hand and printed the colour in gradations of purple to represent the legendary New England mountain sunsets and provide 'atmospheric perspective'. The name of each mountain and its elevation is printed in letterpress and the whole is hardbound in a concertina style.

___, 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Washington Press

The Washington press that sits in front of the entrance to the Book Arts Workshop, Baker Library, Dartmouth College.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Dartmouth College Crest

Dartmouth College was founded in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, a Congregational minister from Connecticut, who was keen to establish a school to train Native Americans as Christian missionaries. On 13 December 1769, a charter was granted to the school, and eventually a seal with a coat of arms was created, depicting a pine grove, Native Americans walking towards Dartmouth Hall, and the school motto: Vox clamantis in deserto ('A calling voice in the wilderness'). After various iterations, a simplified line-drawing was designed in 1940 by noted typographer W. A. Dwiggins. In 1957 his version was modified, changing '1770' (on the original seal) to '1769', which matched the charter date.

___, 1957. Dartmouth College, New Hampshire

Sarah Smith and Phoebe Novello

Sarah M. Smith, Manager of the Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop, muses over a printed sheet with student Phoebe Novello.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Stephanie Wolff

Standing beside the 'easy to construct' Origami Book instructions is Stephanie Wolff, who teaches book-binding, and occasionally letterpress printing in the Book Arts Workshop.

___, c. 2015. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Toni Aguiar

Toni Aguiar, an Art and Engineering student, arrived in the Book Arts Workshop one day and expressed interest in creating a poster. This is the result.

___, [2015]. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Amos Kennedy and class

Amos Kennedy, a visiting letterpress operator and owner-operator of Kennedy Prints in Detroit, enthrals a 'Dave the Potter' African and African American Studies class of 2013. Sitting on the table at back is Amy Borezo, a book artist.

___, 2013. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop

Dartmouth AAAS Programme

On the left of this photograph is Professor Michael Chaney, lecturer of the African and African American Studies (AAAS) Programme, which centres on David Drake, a South Carolinian slave. Drake made large ceramic storage vessels, signing and etching sayings and poems on them. The students of AAAS 82 are asked to respond creatively to this paper. The Book Arts Workshop is one place in which this is done.

___, [2015]. Dartmouth Book Arts Workshop