Make-A-Book Project

In a class titled History of the Book (Spring 2022), I collaboratively printed and bound a xylographic, i.e., wood-block printed, book with four other classmates to experience the process of making a printed book from scratch. We chose to print Prince Ivan and the Firebird, a tale which my classmate typed up from her book of fairy tales and which I further edited to reduce the page count from 34 to 25 pages. We used the laser cutting machines in the Innovation Co-Lab to carve out inverted pages with raised text on pieces of wood. Each page took 40 minutes to an hour, a laborious process which always required someone to stand guard near the machines to take them out as soon as they finish and to ensure that none of them catch on fire. I participated in much of the printing and binding processes, which proved more difficult than they appeared. It was difficult to get the right amound of ink on each raised letter and apply enough pressure with a roller or water bottle after placing the paper. Sometimes, letters would be missing because I did not apply enough ink, and other times words would be smeared because I put too much ink. After printing all the pages, I helped with stitching the leaves together and gluing the cover boards onto the fabric binding. Unfortunately, the craft glue bled straight through the fabric. Overall, making this printed book has been one of the most hands-on and momorable projects I have ever done, and I now have a much greather appreciation of this book-making technology.