Exhibition: A Letterpress Legacy: The Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop

1 September – 2 December 2016, Otago

In 1936, Ray Nash (1905-1982), an American graphic-arts historian and calligraphy expert, established a hand press in the Baker Library, Dartmouth College.  The Graphic Arts Workshop, as it was called then, with the imprint of The Baker Library Press, ran for some 25 years.  Teaching, instruction, and discussion were all part of the print programme.  In 1989, three Nash students – Mark Lansburgh, Roderick D Stinehour, and Edward Connery Lathem – re-established the Workshop.  This initiative was aided by the kindness of the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Endowment that not only provided funding to re-establish the workshop in the Baker Library but also the support for a Fellow in the Book Arts.  Today the Workshop provides students with access to a letterpress studio and a bookbinding studio.  There they can mix inks, create posters and cards, and learn how to set type and bind a book.  In the spirit of Nash and his students, the Workshop is open to all Dartmouth students and the Dartmouth community after they complete an orientation session.

In 2015, Dartmouth College celebrated the Workshop’s 25th Anniversary with an exhibition entitled: ‘The Secret Revealed. The Books Arts Workshop at 25 Years’.  This exhibition showcased a selection of print and book arts materials produced by students and staff at Dartmouth over the years.  To celebrate the University of Otago’s association with Dartmouth College through the Matariki Network, this exhibition, held in the De Beer Gallery at the University of Otago Central Library, highlights a small selection of materials borrowed from Dartmouth’s Books Arts Workshop and Rauner Special Collections Library.

VISIT THE EXHIBITION WEBSITE