Book Arts League members David Ashley, Tom Parson and Julia Seko recently took students at a Denver school for gifted kids on a “whirlwind tour of the written and printed word.”

Students in the Polaris Program at Ebert Elementary studying the Revolutionary War learned about calligraphy and how to work with the pen from David. The students picked two quotations, one from Tom Paine, and the other from Patrick Henry, and David set the type which Tom locked into the chase of a Curtis and Mitchell Columbian No.2 tabletop press, ca 1874. Each student was able to print two copies of a quote, and Julia demonstrated other printing basics with the students and showed them a small wooden model of a common press loaned by Rob Barnes.

A sheaf of thank-you letters sent to BAL expressed youthful enthusiasm for the history lesson in the book arts. Some kids were taken with the calligraphy instruction, while the press caught the imagination of others. One student in the K-5 program included a copyright notice on his thank you letter. “I liked learning about the origin of letters, and how they used to write a long time ago,” wrote one. One aspiring calligrapher wrote, “It’s going to be fun to go home and show my family,” but another student was less optimistic. “I think I will not become a calligrapher,” he admitted. “It is too hard and requires a lot of patience. I would prefer to be a pro soccer player.”

Others were drawn to the press. “I would like to thank you for the enjoying experience of learning to print. I had much fun and I would love to do it again,” wrote one possible future Book Arts League member. “The printing machine fascinated me and I really enjoyed the experience.” Another budding letterpress enthusiast promised, “I will keep the saying I printed forever as a rememberence of you.”

The Polaris Program at Ebert is “the first time a program dedicated to meeting the needs of highly gifted and high achieving students has operated in an independent site in the Denver Public Schools, and is the only such school,” according to information on the Polaris website.

The presentation was hosted by Librarian Gail Axt. Although one letter hinted at slight reservations, saying, “Some people might not have liked it but I did!” another said “it was 10x better then I expected.” Others expressed the hope the League would return to the school again. “Thank you so much for spending time with us I loved a lot I hope you can come again.” Just in case that message didn’t come through, the writer included a “P.S. Please, Please, Please come again.”

The feeling was mutual. “The students were enthusiastic and fascinated by these early beginnings of our communications technology and really appreciated the historical importance of these traditional crafts. It was great fun,” said BAL President Julia Seko. The League looks forward to visiting the kids at Polaris at Ebert again soon.

Photos courtesy Gail Axt. Top: Julie, Middle: David, Bottom:Tom.