When you think back on the English classes you took in school, you probably learned about key literary figures and different writing techniques. But at Northern Illinois University, there's a class that focuses on a craft you don't find in the standard curriculum.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, students walked into class at NIU's Book Lab.
"A book lab is really a humanities makerspace," explained NIU English professor Melissa Adams-Campbell. "It's a space where people can practice the historical methods of bookmaking, typesetting and letterpress printing."
Adams-Campbell knew that NIU Libraries already had some equipment in storage. She asked if staff could bring it out and let the students learn about it.
Inside the lab, there’s a small replica of Johannes Gutenberg's 1440 press. There's also a huge wooden replica of a common press in the middle of the space. The common press was used from the 1400s through the 1800s. This one was built by a student in the 1970s. The back looks like a giant wooden chair turned backward, with a long lever sticking out. In front is a metal frame with a part that presses down on the paper.
Although the equipment is antique, the space isn't some sort of museum. It's where students learn hands-on printing press and book creation techniques. Marie Pinion, a math major and English minor, said, in a prior session, she and other students created paper by blending a type of cotton material and water.
"And then we took screens that we had. There was wood around it," she said, "so that we could get it the right size for the paper. And we would scoop it into the water, mixed with cotton, and then we would have to dry that."
Professor Nicole Clifton specializes in medieval literature. She helped Pinion develop her final project proposal.
"Have you suggested some possibilities for the kinds of book you might want to make?" she asked Pinion. "When you say 'a book of some sort,' that sounds like you haven't really made up your mind yet?"
At the front of the lab, preservation coordinator Sata Prescott worked on his own book project. He sat in front of a glass plate splattered with red ink and gently rolled a device called a brayer across it. He then pressed the ink onto a raised graphic on a small printing press.
He placed a piece of paper on the press with packing material made of wood and felt. He was preparing for an upcoming event for newly admitted students.
"They're going to be stitching together a small book project," he said. "I am currently printing the back page with the mid-20th-century imprint of the Flying Cucumber that was the in-house printing service back in the day."
Prescott used a BookBeetle press. It's wooden and small enough to sit on a desk. Prescott took me over to another more modern piece of equipment that many of today’s college students may have never used: a typewriter that still works.
It was time for the class to begin. Students found their way to their seats, and Professor Clifton explained the day’s assignment.
"You should do your coloring first," she suggested, "and we'll do the gold leaf application last so that if you need to leave it, it can stay here and dry."
The students are working on illuminating, a process where a thin gold leaf is glued to a piece of paper using either gelatin or egg whites. They chose from already hand-drawn medieval letters, most selecting the initial of their first name.
Junior Felix Rodriguez drew his own and incorporated a medieval sword. He said illumination appears throughout medieval literature.
"You can see how much someone cared about their particular book," he said, "by how much illumination was around it."
Junior Kahlil Kambui is coloring his letter. He pulled out a multicolored notebook he had created from his backpack.
First, he chose the type of paper he wanted to use. Then he designed the cover.
"This is from the cardboard from another notebook," he explained. "Took more paper to have, like the kind of, like the cover. I glued this on, same for the back of the cover."
Kambui said he uses this notebook to take class notes and write book summaries.
Professor Clifton said writing like those who lived in the Middle Ages is difficult.
"Long before Melissa thought about the Book Lab, I was having students in my Chaucer classes write with quills," Clifton said. "And one of them said once, 'boy, when people in the Middle Ages wrote, they had to really want to write the stories down,' because it was so hard."
Besides notebooks, calligraphy, papermaking and letterpress printing, students in this class also learn digital publishing.
Their final projects will be showcased in April as part of NIU's Conference of Undergraduate Research and Engagement.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent