By Caitlyn Maltese
Student Life Editor
Get ready to step back in time and learn how to print work on an antique letterpress. Every semester, the Rose O’Neill Literary House and the Maureen Jacoby Endowment for Editing and Publishing sponsor two seven-week, non-credit bearing Print Shop Workshops in the fall, taught by Master Printer Mike Kaylor: “Beginner’s Workshop: Introduction to Letterpress” and “Advanced Workshop: Book Arts.”
The Beginner’s Workshop is scheduled Tuesdays starting Sept. 13 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the print shop of the Rose O’Neill Literary House and the Advanced Workshop is scheduled every Thursday st
arting Sept. 15 at the same time and the same place. Both classes are free and all necessary materials are provided.
In Beginner’s Workshop, students learn about the history of the book and are able to experience printing on the printing press. According to Lindsay Lusby, assistant director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House, Kaylor teaches students about “the history of the printed word, books, and type. Then, they will learn how to set type and print it using the presses that we have downstairs in the print shop.”
The Advanced Workshop focuses on book binding. During this class, “Mike will go through the different methods of how to bind books by hand,” said Lusby, an alumna who took the course during her time at WC.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “There will also be a history component of that as well— where Mike talks about the history of the book and the different forms of books, like the codex versus scroll. … Mike will give you all of that information if you take the workshop. He is a vessel of knowledge.”
Registration opened on Aug. 29 and closes when the class begins or when it fills. The Beginner’s Workshop filled as of Aug. 29. If you are interested in signing up or joining the waitlist, email lit_house@washcoll.edu.