The King Library Press’ annual Wayzgoose Print Festival welcomed faculty and students to celebrate the art of the letterpress and print media.
The event showcased prints from their archive of historical and donated graphics on Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Margaret I. King Library, where the press is housed in the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Kentucky.
Colleen Barrett, a UK rare books librarian, instructed attendees on the operation of classic print presses, specifically the Sigwalt hand-operated letterpress.
“The press was originally comprised of a small group of women alongside Carolyn Reading Hammer, re-printing books on their lunch breaks,” Barrett said.
Barrett has served as the administrator for the King Library Press since 2019. She manages general business for the press.
“In the ‘40s and ‘50s, people were printing for fun,” says Barrett. “We’ve received donations from the local community,” referring to the collection the library has developed.
Print hobbyist and director Paul Holbrook led demonstrations on the operations of classic wooden and iron presses.
During the presentation, Holbrook discussed the print press craftsman Johannes Gutenberg’s print media innovations, explained the use of composition sticks to assemble type for newspapers and printed products, and showcased how the art of print has been automated throughout history.
“I’ve been printing since 1974, as a hobbyist. I had been director of the press since 1988.” Holbrook said.
Holbrook spoke about his apprenticeship under Hammer, who founded the King Library Press in 1956.
“Caroline Hammer had really started the program. We carried on from her ideas about having a bibliographic teaching press for students to learn how to print and set type,” Holbrook said.
Frank Jones works as a volunteer at the King Library Press. He spoke about the fusion of old-style letterpressing and typography, as well as the newly popular, miniature, independently published magazines, referred to as zines.
Jones expressed his enthusiasm for the idea of a Zine Club site visit to the King Library Press at the Wayzgoose Print Festival.
“The press does all kinds of printing. I knew that there was some interest in your generation in zines,” said Jones. “It’s kind of a, yeah, a Renaissance of Zine.”
Frank Jones displayed multiple zines he had created using archives from the press’s collection, combining classic typography with new-age miniature magazine formatting.
“I would love to have some students here who are doing their own zine projects, and we could just help them along,” Jones said.
The King Library Press will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.
