Twelve
years after the Horn Printing Chappel presses were placed in storage,
the press has been revived as a student organization dedicated to
fine hand-press printing and the book arts. Renamed the Horn Press
in honor of the printing chappel’s founder Andrew Horn, the
group comprises students in the Information Studies Department of
the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, just
as the original Horn Chappel Press. In addition, we are affiliated
with the California Center for the Book because of their interest
in the creation of books as well as the campaign for literacy.
Although we are primarily based on the UCLA campus, the Horn Press
printing workshop is located at the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library in the West Adams district of Los Angeles, where the UCLA
presses have been stored since 1992. The Clark Library generously
offered the use of its gate house, located on the Clark Library grounds,
as a work space for setting type and conducting printing instructions
for the Horn Press. After renovating the gate house space and restoring
the presses to good working condition, the Horn Press will resume
its unique role as a student operated printing chappel.
As a student organization of the UCLA campus, we have enjoyed an overwhelming
amount of support from the GSLIS department, alumni, and the Los Angeles-area
book arts community. We hope to contribute to the rich heritage of
fine presswork, as well as augment the MLIS program in the areas of
book conservation, preservation, and analytical bibliography. To facilitate
a greater understanding of bookmaking methods and traditions, the
Horn Press will present speakers and artists from the book arts world
to offer lectures and workshops for the UCLA community. Among its
first year’s activities, the Horn Press sponsored a lecture
on artists’ books given by Kitty Maryatt, a workshop to teach
students the techniques of pochoir (the French art of stenciling),
and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Huntington Library's rare books
and manuscripts department.
(By Elizabeth Spatz.)
Continue on to the Book Club of California grant proposal.
