Howard describes a day in the life of a printer in the mid 1600s in Chapter 4, describing how early the print master wakes up in order to prepare the shop for the coming day, and how late the print master stays after the workers leave in order to tidy up the shop at night. In the book, she also describes a print-layer’s strike, where they refused to come to work because of lower wages. The print master is forced to use new hires to lay the print. When I first read this, I didn’t think it was a big deal because the laying of the print seemed to be a fun, easy job. However, after our visit to the EPI yesterday, I realized just how difficult it must have been for the print master to teach the new hires how to lay the print, and how much less efficient their inexperienced hands must have been in comparison to the veteran print-layers who were on strike. It is remarkable to think that things to which we pay no attention to today – the layout and format of our books, for example – were the esteemed work of meticulous hands. The visit to the EPI really opened my eyes into how difficult it must be to truly run a successful publication company.
I agree. Visting the EPI, talking with the professor there, and also hearing from Diane Shaw has made me better appreciate the time and complexity involved with making a book. Prior to this class, I took for granted the ease of getting a book. Now, after beginning to learn about publication history and technology, I like books more because it seems more like an art than a mundane object.