Printing with Steve Heaver - Day 3

Work began early on Saturday, August 1st, at the Book Arts Studio. A long series of preliminary proofs were pulled blind (without inking the form) to help the TBAS team identify issues with the packing and underlay. After addressing the most apparent problems, it was time to ink the form. A new, wide roller had been bought from Tarheel for the Lankes project, and a slab of marble served as a plate for inking. Steve demonstrated his technique for inking the roller consistently and gave everyone a chance to handle it.

Work continued through the early afternoon, and then guests began to arrive for the open house between 2 and 4 pm. More than two dozen printing enthusiasts came to observe work done on the hand press, connect with old friends and make new ones, and to get a spirited demonstration of the Intertype from our friend Henry Wehle. Among the visitors were Peter and Jeanne Meinke, Stephanie Gemperline, Elizabeth Hillman, Sue Tihansky and Jack Walsh, J. B. Dobkin, Lori Johns, Kim Cannon, Maggie Sage, Kathleen Ochshorn and her mom, Lois Touchton, Thuy Ma and her husband and daughter, Tim Kennedy, Tom Gessler and Thaddeus Root of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, and Leland Hawes.

Some folks came from as far as Orlando and Sarasota for the occasion, but Parker C. Agelasto took the prize for longest distance traveled for the open house. He drove all the way from Richmond -- in one day! Parker wrote the notes for the Lankes book, and did a tremendous amount of work with Welford Taylor to prepare the book for publication. He didn't want to miss the chance to see the book go through the press. To augment the modest display of Lankes materials owned by the TBAS collections, Parker brought an original painting, bookplates, and gorgeous prints by Lankes for visitors to enjoy. He even brought along an original wood block loaned for the occasion by Welford Taylor, together with an original print from it, pulled on the press by J. J. Lankes. One immediately sees that reproductions do not do justice to the beauty of the original prints pulled by Lankes himself -- most of them printed on the 1848 Washington press now at the TBAS.

In addition to the original Lankes materials, the Open Studio presented a showing of fine bindings by David Barry, who will be binding this miniature book, fine printing from Steve Heaver's Hill Press in Baltimore, and an array of miniature books from the TBAS Library Collections given by Lee J. Harrer and J. B. Dobkin.

About the photos 1) Steve inks the roller; 2) Steve applying ink to the form; 3) Sean and Steve pulling an impression; 4) Steve, Richard, and Sean studying the results of an impression; 5) our friends Leland Hawes and J. Dobkin having a chat; 6) Parker Agelasto shares his enthusiasm for Lankes with Carl Nudi; 7) a few of the Lankes gems that Parker brought to share at the open house; 8) Henry Wehle holds court at his beloved Intertype as Peter and Jeanne Meinke, Tom Gessler, Thaddeus Root, and Tim Kennedy watch a demonstration.

View more photos on our Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41353232@N02/sets/72157621889051365/