When planning our current Books Outside the Binding exhibit in the Sabatini Gallery, curators Brea Black and Zan Popp suggested shooting a demonstration video at the University of Kansas. Black contacted Lecturer of Foundations and Letterpress, Linda Samson-Talleur at KU's School of Fine Arts, and on a blustery spring day this past May, we took video equipment and cameras to the print studio. From about 2 hours of footage, I edited things down to a little over three minutes to create our very first Special Collections Short: What Is Letterpress?

The video is intentionally silent and can be viewed in the Sabatini Gallery throughout this exhibit. Below is the accompanying text.

Letterpress Printing Step-by-Step

1. Type is selected from the drawer and set in the composing stick upside down and backwards. Spacing between the words and lines must be set.
2. The type is moved from the composing stick to the galley. The galley allows the composition to be transferred smoothly to the press bed.
3. The text on the press bed must be kept firmly in place using furniture and adjustable quoins. Any movement of the type will result in a blurry print.
4. The rollers are then inked. The ink will transfer the text to the printing paper.
5. The completed print is taken off the press. Multiple copies can be made to complete an edition.