Participants in the 2006 Wisconsin Book Festival event . Photo by Jim Escalante
kept up a lively patter of color play . This was one of the trickiest , most unusual , and most fun things I have ever done .
Teaching & Tours During my tenure at the library I refined one of the press ’ s bread-and-butter activities — a tour — into a solid one-hour introduction to the history of printing that included a demonstration of type composition and printing . Each student pulled a print during the class , and I customized tours to the area of study . History of Science students printed a piece that said “ Smoked or Enlightened , Who Doesn ’ t Loves Bacon ” ( which I liked so much we re-worked and editioned it as a poster ). Shakespeare students printed a miniature book with a quote from Love ’ s Labour ’ s Lost . Over the years I met with countless campus and community members . I assisted students with their research and showed schoolchildren and Scouts how to make an eight-page book from a single piece of folded paper . Additionally , the library supported me in teaching semester-long classes for the Department of Art .
Small Printing Presses & Amateur Journalism I restored to working order several printing presses in the Silver Buckle Press collection . The neatest confluence of library collections with Silver Buckle Press programs came after we repaired and began to use our two smallest printing presses which come from the era of amateur printing in the nineteenth century . They spurred me to study the library ’ s remarkable holdings in amateur journalism in the Department of Special Collections and led to an illustrated talk called “ Desktop Publishing in the 19th Century ,” which I presented at the American Printing History Association conference in 2010 . These little presses have done more than anything to capture the imagination of students — young and old .
Students Silver Buckle Press has depended on student hourly staff since it began . It ’ s been my joy to work with these students . I knew how important the experience of studying at Silver Buckle Press was for me — my first teacher , Katherine Kuehn , who ran Silver Buckle Press in the mid-80s when I was a graduate student , was infinitely patient and generous . I deeply valued the opportunity , as a supervisor , to give back to students the kind of careful mentoring I had received . I ’ m proud of the impression working at Silver Buckle Press had on them , in many cases furthering their careers .
For fifteen years , we printed a seasonal summer-themed poster . These small productions were often opportunities to give a student on staff the freedom and responsibility of art-directing a project . In 2005 , graduate students Sabrina Ogle and Kathy O ’ Connell indulged my love for a photograph showing the composing room at Curwen Press ( in England ) in the 1950s , by swapping out the original workers ’ portraits with snapshots of current and former student printers at Silver Buckle Press — with the boss overseeing from the rear .
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