O

Oller (Mariana S.)

Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

Women at the Press: Sixty Years of Teaching the Book Arts at Wellesley College

A workshop on the history of the book and letterpress printing has been taught in Wellesley College’s Clapp Library for sixty years. In 1944, Rare Books Librarian Hannah French set up a small printing shop within the Library and realized her dream of teaching students and faculty to appreciate the history of the book through hands-on letterpress printing. Special Collections, which has a research-level collection on the history of the book, ranging from papyrus, illuminated manuscripts, and incunabula to modern fine press books and artists’ books, provides the crucial support needed for the success of this workshop and of the whole Book Arts Program today.

Two-Dimensional Design, the Book Arts Studio, and Papyrus to Print to Pixel are three of more than thirty departmental credit courses directly supported by Special Collections and the Book Arts Lab. The overwhelmingly successful experimental course, Papyrus to Print to Pixel, launched for the first time in 2002, will be offered again in 2004. Presented through lectures and hands-on labs taught by Special Collections staff, Wellesley faculty members, and visiting scholars, this course is a survey of the history of written communication technology. In addition, the Book Arts Lab continues to teach individual workshops in letterpress printing, paper-making, paper decoration, and traditional as well as non-traditional binding formats to students from many disciplines.

As digital technology for teaching and study becomes ever more permanent in education, Wellesley College has remained one of the few institutions fortunate enough to have the historical equipment and teaching staff to preserve earlier written communication technologies. Wellesley students have been inspired to pursue careers in rare book librarianship as a result of their experience in Special Collections and the Book Arts Lab. Demand for such learning opportunities continues to grow, and the Book Arts Lab and Special Collections continue to be woven into the liberal arts curriculum of the College.

Mariana Oller is Special Collections Research and Instruction Specialist in the Wellesley College Library. She has an M.A. degree in History from Harvard University, concentrating on Medieval History. Prior to her appointment at Wellesley, she held the position of Curatorial Assistant in the Rare Books Department at the Houghton Library at Harvard. Ms. Oller’s research interests focus on the field of the History of the Book with emphasis on early printed scientific books.