UMD BookLab and the Plaintxt Press

Happy to lend a hand! 🏳️‍🌈

Wanna buy us some ink? Today is UMD’s big campus-wide fund raiser!

Today the MAKING WORDS students worked cooperatively on three different presses to print this 1935 Walter Benjamin quotation on a multi-layered background. They turned out awesome.

LET’S GO

NOX day (by Anne Carson) is always a favorite.

ChatGPT as tactical media. A little bit of resistance printing today by @kmkraus.bsky.social . All handset type.

Photo of a man wearing a plaid shirt holding up a single sheet of paper with numerous letterpress ink impressions on it

Me demonstrating the resiliency of a single piece of paper that went through a press in @umdbooklab.bsky.social for ~40 unique, overlapping impressions

Some of the work on display yesterday at our Wayzgoose.

Aww. 😘 Never say never!

One of our interns so dedicated they are OUT MAKING PAPER in this weather. (We all but forbade it.)

It’s that time of year again.

First work on our new sign press (and a bit of an homage to its retail provenance).

A certain slant of light . . . welcome to our newest addition, a Morgan Sign Company Line-o-Scribe with a 14x22” print bed, our largest yet. This particular press was used in a family-owned hardware store in Georgia until recently.

Gradually filling up the galley tray. If you're not here don't get out of sorts, just ask!

Graphic with the text: June 11-12 2025 Queer Bibliography: In the Making Newcastle, UK and cyberspace Contact: queerbibliography@gmail.com

CFP for the 3rd annual (!!) Queer Bibliography symposium. @18thcenturysam.bsky.social & @elizaaudacis.bsky.social have worked so hard organizing this!

📚 full cfp here: bit.ly/QueerBib2025

📁 submission form here: bit.ly/QB2025Propos...

This call will close 31 January 2025. Share widely & submit!

Hello Bluesky! We’ve been parked here for a while but this account will be becoming more active.

Founded in 2018, we are the U. of Maryland English Dept.’s letterpress and makerspace for book arts. We like good trouble.

Follow us for updates; we would love to be included in your starter packs!

Big congrats to our longtime colleague and friend! english.umd.edu/news/dylan-l...

Print Futures: Spring 2024 • Partners in Print The next Print Futures is Apr. 7, 2024. This online program spotlighting emerging letterpress printers is free to attend. Co-produced by PiP & LEAD.

Check out Nat McGartland and other fab folks in this gathering of emerging letterpress artists and activists: partnersinprint.org/event/print-...

Open hours this semester! Wednesdays 12-2 and Thursdays 10-2. Tawes 3248.

A Peek Inside … English Professor Christina Walter’s Office With Collection of Optical Toys, Seeing Isn’t Always Believing

Congrats to BFF Dr. Christina Walter on this amazing write up about her office and curio collection! today.umd.edu/a-peek-insid...

South Korea’s City of Books With some 900 book-related businesses, Paju Book City, northwest of Seoul, is an intentional and euphoric celebration of books and the bookmaking process.

Happy New Year!

(gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2023/11/25/b...

Just a typical day in BookLab, with two generations of Drs. Chico sharing treasures of the centuries (and of Spain’s Rastro market). Thank you to everyone who turned out!

Happening Wednesday! A cabinet of curiosities and table talk. Free and open to all.

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😍

We have cartonera! Cartonera are a tradition of Latin American bookmaking using found and recycled materials, especially cardboard that is then decorated for the cover. Thanks to Diana Proenza for educating us, and the great @titachico.bsky.social for finding us these samples in Chile!

Join us next week for a nature print pop-up! Tuesday and Wednesday 12-2pm

Happy Type High Day! We love this poster from our friends at Davidson College Letterpress Lab. September 18 is like pi day for printers: the date corresponds to 0.918 inches, or the standardized height of a piece of type!