Centenary Connections: Hidden Treasures
Dr. Bellee Jones-Pierce, assistant professor of English, recently shared this “story of coincidences and collaboration” on campus, proving that you just never know what you’ll find lying around at a nearly 200-year-old college!
As a specialist in early modern English literature, I often find myself teaching texts that seem far removed from today’s college students and their experiences. To combat that sense, I often connect my students with historical objects and material processes. I purchased a toy letterpress and a small selection of metal type to supplement discussions of book history and print culture in British Literature, a lecture-heavy survey that covers over 1,000 years of literature and history. Hands-on experience with these materials made real—tangible—such developments as the advent and rise of the printing press, the proliferation of newspapers and periodicals, and Virginia Woolf’s work with Hogarth Press.
At Centenary, I have the good fortune of teaching alongside other colleagues who work with material processes in their classrooms. One such colleague is Dr. Chrissy Martin, assistant professor of English, whose lessons frequently feature collage and blackout poetry. In one of our many discussions about pedagogy, Chrissy and I began talking about how a full-size letterpress might benefit our students and the College.
When the English Department began planning an application to the annual grant competition funded by the Centenary Muses, Chrissy and I suggested the letterpress as an option. Our colleague Dr. Matthew Blasi wrote the grant, which the Muses generously funded. For the past few months, I have been researching and pricing presses.
A few weeks ago, Chrissy and I were chatting in Magale Library when she noticed one of the presses we had been considering—a Showcard proofing press—sitting on the floor of the library. Tucked beneath a large lithography press and stone, covered in dust and rust, the Showcard had gone unnoticed. I asked Patrick Morgan, Library Director, if I could clean up the press and get it working. He agreed and told me that I should ask Christy Wrenn, Director of Library Operations, if she had any more information about the press. Christy reported that the Showcard had been donated to the library by the Art Department, though she wasn’t sure when. Wrenn arrived at Centenary in 1982, she said, and the Showcard had been there at least since then.
Excited to share the news of our discovery, I contacted Jessica Hawkins, associate professor of Communication and current chair of the Art and Visual Culture Department. She invited me to look through several drawers and containers of type in a storage room in Turner Art Center. As it turns out, some of that type is Showcard type, and likely accompanied the purchase of the library’s press. For the past 40 or so years, the type and press have lived on opposite sides of our campus. On June 5, I reunited them.
Thanks to the quirks of a small campus and the Muses’ generosity, Centenary will soon be home to two working letterpresses. While we wait for the English Department’s new platen press* to arrive, I will be working with Patrick, Jessica, and Chrissy to locate space for a printing studio on campus. We’ll also be dreaming up more ideas. The first official outing for the Showcard will be for a 2024 Centenary in Paris course, “Her Words, Her City,” taught by Dr. Rachel Johnson and Dr. Terrie Johnson. Jessica and I have discussed the possibilities these presses open for book arts and book history courses. Letterpress will provide new avenues for editions of and contributions to Centenary’s literary and arts magazine, Pandora. Most importantly, students across the College will have the chance to connect to materials and processes that were previously beyond their reach. We’re thrilled to see what our students will make! We’re fortunate, too, for a material reminder of the importance of working across departments, disciplines, and buildings at Centenary.
— Dr. Bellee Jones-Pierce
After discovering the Showcard press and finding the missing type, Dr. Jones-Pierce cleaned the press of rust and old ink and began running test prints. See some photos of the “reunion” below!
What is a platen press? Learn more at letterpresscommons.com!
