The Cushing Memorial Library and Archives at Texas A&M University will host a workshop Sunday-Friday (May 18-23) on the history of books and printing. This is the second year Cushing has hosted this workshop. Organized and led by Steven Escar Smith, director of the Cushing Library, the course offers participants hands-on experience and instruction in all the processes of book production in the "hand-press era" of printing, roughly 1450-1800. Participants will cast type as it was in Gutenberg's day, set and justify type, make paper, learn about and participate in various binding processes, and print on a reproduction 18th century printing press. Graduate students, librarians, archivists, historians, and scholars from such institutions as Rice, Miami University, Yale, Kent State, Florida State, St. John’s, Wisconsin, the University of Houston, and Texas A&M are participating in the workshop. Workshop participants also include private individuals such as book collectors and printing enthusiasts.

The morning and afternoon sessions are limited to those who have registered for the workshop. The workshop also hosts a series of evening lectures that are free and open to the public. Evening lecturers include Maura Ives of Texas A&M, Henry Petroski of Duke University, Paul Needham of Princeton, and Ron Tyler of the University of Texas. The evening lectures begin at 7:30 Monday through Thursday and are held in the Cushing Library.

"Despite, and maybe even because of, the rise of electronic publication and the internet, there is intense interest in the book as a physical artifact. In fact, many people believe that a better understanding of the future of the book can be gained by a better understanding of the book’s past. This impulse to learn about the past as we bravely embrace the future accounts in large part for the popularity of this workshop," Smith says. For more information, contact Steve Smith at 845-1951 or visit the workshop web site.  To view the lecture schedule, click here.