the HORN PRESS
UCLA Department of Information Studies
GSE&IS Building, Box 951520
Los Angeles , CA 90095-1520  

8 November 2004  

To Whom It May Concern:  

The Horn Press is a student-run organization based in the UCLA Department of Information Studies and dedicated to the study of hand-press fine printing and the book arts.  To facilitate a greater understanding of bookmaking methods and traditions, since our inception in 2003 we have partnered with the California Center for the Book to sponsor trips to local printing venues and bring speakers and artists from the book arts world to offer lectures for the UCLA community. Our ultimate goal is to augment UCLA's IS program in the areas of book conservation, preservation, and analytical bibliography.  

In pursuing this goal we follow the example of our organization's namesake and UCLA's first library school faculty member, Andrew Harlis Horn.  In addition to standard classes in library education, Horn believed students should have the opportunity to learn about typography and printing as important adjuncts to analytical and textual bibliography, and shortly after his arrival at UCLA he set about obtaining printing equipment for the fledgling School of Library Service.  The hand presses Horn acquired by the mid-1960s were the first press equipment acquired by a United States library school, and in 1964 Horn and his students formed a printing chapel in cooperation with UCLA's Powell Library and the Department of English.  

Horn's student-run chapel continued with its printing activities from 1964 until well after his retirement in 1978, at which time it was renamed the Horn Printing Chapel in his honor.  Unfortunately when in 1992 the library school moved from Powell Library to accommodate earthquake retrofitting plans, there were no appropriate facilities to which the Horn Printing Chapel could relocate.  A Columbian Press acquired in 1978 moved to the Center for Bibliographic Studies at UC Riverside and remains there today.  Most of the other presses and typecases were placed in storage, and the Horn Printing Chapel effectively disbanded.  

This year, the Horn Press hopes to augment the resurgence of student interest in the study of typography and letterpress that led to the formation of our organization by refurbishing stored printing equipment and reinstating these long-warehoused presses.  Once in place, we plan to utilize the presses to conduct printing instruction and demonstrations.  We also want to regularly produce chapbooks, pamphlets, and broadsides, thereby carrying on the tradition established by Horn and his students.  

After a recent examination of the presses, Mark Barbour of the International Printing Museum concurred that with a minimal investment to clean, service, and move the presses, they should be in perfect working order. Last winter UCLA granted our organization a room to which to move the presses and this spring students set to work cleaning and preparing the space for presswork.  

However, an official seismic inspection on the order of $3000 needs to be completed before the Horn Press can set up shop.  

To help finance the cost of this examination and rehabilitate the Horn Printing Chapel's presses, we hope that the Book Club of California might assist us. Because we know the Club's chief aims are to further the interests of book collectors and scholars and to promote an understanding and appreciation of fine books-aims consonant with our organization's own goals-we are certain you will recognize the merit of our proposal.   The Horn Press therefore seeks a Book Club of California grant of $5000 to help us pay for costs associated with an official seismic inspection, cleaning and servicing the presses, and moving the presses and printing equipment into our new location.  

As you are well aware, today there are notably few prospects for students interested in book history, typography, and printing.  With the reformation of the Horn Press and relocation of Andrew Horn's printing equipment we have an opportunity to provide students with an unprecedented kind of access to experience firsthand the value of fine books and letterpress printing.  We greatly appreciate the chance to apply for a Book Club of California grant, and with your help, hope to become an important resource to and active contributor to Southern California 's rich heritage of fine presswork.  

Thank for your time and consideration.  

Sincerely,
Mike Garabedian
Horn Press Communications Director