Symposium to explore recent scholarship on Johann Gutenberg

Recent scholarship on Johann Gutenberg and early printing is the focus of a two-day symposium hosted by the Silver Buckle Press, Thursday-Friday, April 7-8.

The symposium, titled “Hot Type in a Cold World II: Recasting Gutenberg,” presents a 21st-century look at the types used for the first printed book: the 42-line Bible produced by Johann Gutenberg in the mid-15th century. In 1999, the Sunday Times of London, and several similar publications and academic polls named Gutenberg the “Man of the Millennium.”

The program is tied to Silver Buckle Press’ acquisition of a font based on the type in Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible and to a Special Collections exhibit, “Paragraphs on Typography.” The exhibit, which is open to the public, continues through June 10 on the ninth floor of Memorial Library, 728 State St.

Symposium talks include a demonstration of how metal type was made by hand and a discussion on the evolution of printing technology; the presentation of a controversial theory of how Gutenberg made the first printing types; a contemporary type founder’s saga of recreating Gutenberg’s letterforms in the 21st century; and an account of printing history in the curriculum – how students use historic movable type to produce a handmade book about Johann Gutenberg and the first printed book.

Symposium events include:

• Thursday, April 7
  • 4:30 p.m., “Recasting Gutenberg,” Stan Nelson, museum specialist emeritus, Graphic Arts Collections, Smithsonian Institution. Co-sponsored by the Friends of the UW–Madison Libraries. 126 Memorial Library.
• Friday, April 8
  • 9:15 a.m., “Discovering Gutenberg’s Printing Processes Through Computation,” Blaise Aguera y Arcas, president and CTO of Sand Codex. 126 Memorial Library.
  • 10:30 a.m., “Fact Or Fiction: Answering Questions About Early Printing Type,” Stan Nelson, museum specialist emeritus, Graphic Arts Collections, Smithsonian Institution. 126 Memorial Library.
  • 12:30-1:30 p.m., tours of the UW–Madison Libraries Department of Special Collections, Silver Buckle Press and Kohler Art Library.
  • 1:40 p.m., “Seizing Ordered Chaos: An Attempt to Reproduce Gutenberg’s B-42 Types,” Theo Rehak, proprietor of Dale Guild Type Foundry. 126 Memorial Library.
  • 2:40 p.m., “Experience Gutenberg Project: The Making of Beorum II: Fragmentary Evidence,” Kitty Maryatt, director of the Scripps College Press and assistant professor of Art at Scripps College. 126 Memorial Library.
  • 4 p.m., panel discussion, moderated by James Danky, director of the Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America. 126 Memorial Library.

The Silver Buckle Press is dedicated to preserving the craft of fine printing through limited-edition publications, lectures, demonstrations and tours. It hosted the first symposium on “Hot Type in a Cold World” in 1998.

The press is located on the second floor of Memorial Library. It holds a collection of 19th-century equipment, including Albion and Washington Hoe printing presses, approximately 200 fonts of metal and wood type, printer’s ornaments and cuts, and all the tools necessary for complete letterpress printing.

The symposium is free of charge and is open to the public. For more information visit the Silver Buckle Press Web site or call (608) 263-4929.