In today’s lab, we’ll be making paper. If we had more time, we’d visit Fresh Press Studio, a fantastic lab on campus that uses traditional methods to experiment with more environmentally-friendly methods for making paper. I highly recommend signing up for one of Fresh Press’ workshops if you are interested in these topics!
Main Activity: Making Paper!
We will be making a basic hemp-cotton paper in the lab today—using pulp from Fresh Press!—but you can consider other possibilities if you want to make paper for your book projects.
Secondary Activity: Imposition
While half the class is making paper, the other half will be thinking about imposition, which is how the pages of a book are laid out and folded. The imposition chosen for a book will determine its size, among other things. We will be thinking about imposition when we print together, as well as when we bind books. Start by watching this quick introduction to three important formats: folio, quarto, and octavo:
First, Try folding and numbering your own mini books in these three formats.
These layouts are very simple, but often folded sheets were nested in gatherings or quires, which could make page numbering more complicated. To understand how this works, you might first fold two sheets into quarto, nest them one inside the other, then number them, and finally unfold them to see where each page would need to be printed in order to make that book.
The Folger Shakespeare Library provides some wonderful examples of how Shakespeare’s books would have been imposed for printing. Check out the instructions for their DIY First Folio. Then use their online imposition tool to see if you can correctly arrange the pages of The Tempest for printing. Finally, explore their DIY Quarto page to understand an even more complex format. This practice folding sheet is particularly helpful for understanding different imposition schemes. The Shakespeare in Sheets project from ISU gives even more examples you can consider.