Over the past two weekends, the Otakou Press of the University of Otago Library offered a very successful Summer School letterpress course. Five students undertook hand-printing exercises using a table-top Adana and the Vandercook Proofing press.

The very first piece was a name badge for each student printed on the Adana. The second was a pangram (a text using all the letters of the alphabet) to introduce the students to the ‘California’ layout of the tray, including punctuation marks, ampersands, pound signs, etc. That text was printed on the Vandercook on Zerkall cream paper. The most ambitious exercise was a Shakespearean sonnet, also printed on the Vandercook. Students chose their sonnet and type (mostly 14-point Garamond) and decorated it with an ornament printed in a second colour. The paper used for the sonnets was Freelife Kendo 200gsm. Another intended exercise had been to print a favourite recipe, and creating an 8-page sewn booklet. However, time ran out and this option was not started. One student did manage to print a haiku.

Throughout the two weekends the students were also shown samples of modern hand printing; inspirational press work from New Zealand, Australian, English and American press operators. In addition, they viewed a small number of early printed books with new eyes, appreciating not only the long tradition of hand printing but also the hard work involved in producing such masterpieces.

Overall, it was a very successful workshop led by Dunedin’s best handpress printer, Dr John Holmes, owner operator of his Frayed Frisket Press.