Tag Archives: critical-making

Practicing on the Washington Press: printing two blocks of the Beginning, Progress and End of Man (1688/89) based on photographs of the version at the Bodleian library; or the trouble with Eve

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Jacqui Reid-Walsh

On February 11, 2022, I had a dynamic practice printing session with Bill Minter, Senior Book Conservator, at the Conservation Center of the Penn State University Libraries. We worked with images of a couple of blocks that I commissioned several years ago based on the Bodleian copy of the Beginning, Progress and End of Man.

Figure 1: Two printings of the lion block.

Bill first worked with the splendid lion block, quickly achieving a clear image of the lion (figure 1). Then we played with making impressions of the Eve/mermaid. Interestingly, looking at the Eve die block, it seems to have little definition in the top half of the figure – her face seems to have no etched lines and so looks indistinct (figure 2).

Figure 2: Impression of Eve/mermaid

Bill printed several impressions and experimented with adjusting the amount of ink and different kinds of pressure. There were small changes in the image, but there seemed to be a problem with the die because some low areas were not printing. This was corrected by adding a simple piece of tape to raise the paper on the tympan – printers call this “makeready.” This revealed fine details on the die that were previously not visible. He also experimented with using different types of paper: regular paper, Japanese paper, and then “Stonehenge” paper made by the Rising Paper Co. which is 100% cotton and used for printmaking. The final version splendidly shows the fine details (figures 3a, 3b)! After all of the use, though, Eve fell off the wooden block! Bill corrected some of the trouble by re-attaching the die with a solid layer of the double-sided tape and put her back together again (figure 4).

Figure 3a and 3b: The Eve/mermaid impressions on different paper.

Figure 4: Making adjustments to the image block.

One photo shows me pulling the handle of the Washington Press, an elegant machine (figure 5). Bill used the tympan and frisket. When I asked about the history of the press, he said it was built in 1839 just before the manufacturer (R. Hoe & Company) started to use their name across the front in about 1841-42.

Figure 5: Jacqui working the iron handpress.

The aim of this exercise was to see if we could do a project based on photographing the entire Beginning, Progress and the End of Man we have at Penn State. To my knowledge this is one of three versions housed in American academic libraries (the other two being Harvard and Princeton) and notably they are free-standing and therefore manipulatable objects. The one I worked with in England at the Bodleian Library is glued to the gutter of a large volume owned by the 17th-century collector Anthony Wood. My dream is to have the entire object photographed and blocks made of the entire set of images in the 5 panels.

Printing the entire turn-up book on rag paper on a hand press we could reconstruct how the images were printed and so understand the clarity and dynamism of the images. Significantly, using rag paper would demonstrate how the material of the turn-up enables the interactive design to be engaged with fully. In this way, we can gain insights in the how the 17th and 18th century interactors engaged with the turn-up book making, unmaking, and remaking the transformations. Perhaps this ease of manipulation was one reason why it was popular for hundreds of years on both sides of the Atlantic.

Pop-up activism: pop-up against coronavirus

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“Pop app libri animati” is an ongoing initiative undertaken by the Fondazione Tancredi di Barolo, jointly formed by Professor Pompeo Vagliani and Professor Gianfranco Crupi. The multipronged initiative that covers research, conservation and educational outreach is  supported by local and regional governments and La Sapienza University in Rome.

The foundation has an impressive collection of movable books in Italian and different languages across time including some spectacular and little known ones even to specialists in the field. In 2019 they held an exhibition in two locations, Rome and Turin.  It was called Pop-App. Science, art and play in the history of animated books from paper to app.

This link shows a virtual tour of the impressive objects, organized in rooms based on genres and introducing to non-European viewers Italian movables:

https://www.pop-app.org/visita-alla-mostra-di-torino/

The follow up event was an international conference scheduled for Feb. 27-28 in Turin Italy. It was cancelled abruptly by the start of the onslaught of the coronavirus. Intrepidly they turned their attention in two directions. Professor Crupi is spearheading the English translation of the collection of essays based on their curated exhibit in 2019 in Rome and Turin called Pop-App. Science, art and play in the history of animated books from paper to the app, which will soon be available on their website. Professor Vagliani has turned his attention away from scholarly investigation of the pop-up books to activism with children who are housed inside for long periods due to the outbreak of the corona virus.

When I was in contact with Professor Vagliani to inquire how they were faring, on March 18, 2020 he wrote back to describe his new initiative. He stated that while they are waiting to be able to reprogram the various initiatives, they have started a collaborative venture between Italian designer Massimo Missiroli and Chinese artist Guan Zhongping to entertain and instruct children through the medium of movable books:

Meanwhile we started, in collaboration with pop-up designer Massimo Missiroli, the initiative “Pop Up against the coronavirus” which aims to involve and raise awareness among children and schools on knowledge and prevention of the virus through the educational and creative potential of movable books. […]

The project consists in making available online downloadable models and tutorials to create animated tables and small pop-up books from home that have as their subject fantastic stories against the virus or insights on prevention practices. All materials made so far can be downloaded at this link https://www.pop-app.org/costruisci-il-tuo-pop-up-contro-il-virus/

He goes on to describe the work of Guan Zhongping in China:

The idea stems from a similar experience promoted in China by animated book expert Guan Zhongping, involving pop-up designers, families and children in isolation at home during the epidemic. Photos and videos of pop-up products made in China are available exclusively on the pop-app site: https://www.pop-app.org/pop-up-contro-il-coronavirus/.

Since I am on the Foundation listserv, I received notice of further collaboration with Dutch pop up designer Paul De Graaf who has devised a pop-up mask (not medical). In addition to imaginative adapting of fairy tale and folktale figures of witches, intrepid child heroes a magic cloud and magic cow, there is rendering of life for children today. This includes a model of living under quarantine in an apartment with balconies.

Download the color template “Quarantine pop up card”

Download the black and white template, to be colored

This link to their YouTube page shows 84 animations of selected books–some from the collection but notably and importantly including books from the activist project “Pop-up against coronavirus:”

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGR7kP3lbJZ8NCZJRcQjT3w

This includes tutorials such as the evokingly entitled – Tutorial “Pop up contro il coronavirus” including that of a mask. The templates for making pop-ups are available in three languages: Italian, French and English and the logo is “united even from a distance.”

When I went to the emerging page devoted to the children’s artworks, I saw a jack in a box hero.

I am awed by the resilience and creativity of the foundation in this extremely difficult time for Italy and by the power of transnational collaborations that are occurring across Europe and oceans.

 

The Mystery of Eleanor Schanck –was she British or American?

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By Colette Slagle and Jacqui Reid-Walsh

Because we devoted the last blog to the interconnections between marking samplers and metamorphoric books we decided to examine more closely two handmade metamorphic books made by girls.  While our next blog will examine the connections between stitchery literacy and a 19th century artifact made by a American girl Betsy Lewis, in this blog we examine a late 18th century artifact made by Eleanor Schanck and we hypothesize her nationality.

In 1777 Eleanor Schanck created and dated a four-part turn-up book now held at the Cotsen Library at Princeton University. This is one of the few known homemade turn-up books that can be confidently identified as girl-made, as most handmade versions are anonymous, making it difficult to determine their provenance. It is unknown if it was created in England or the United States. In this blog in order to answer this question, we compare Eleanor’s turn-up book to known published British and American editions.

The Cotsen catalog entry describes it as 1 sheet folded into 4 panels with flaps, written and drawn with pen and ink, measuring 27 x 37 cm.  When you interact with the object since there are no individual movable flaps, you can only lift the entire top part or the entire lower part.  Looking at photos, it is hard to determine whether it had been cut and then later reattached, or if it was always uncut.

The early date of this handmade text raises question about which versions of The Beginning, Progress and End of Man and Metamorphosis could have served as a model for Eleanor.  While the 17th century British religious turn-up book was published on occasion throughout the 18th century, the American Metamorphosis is believed to have been first published after 1775 (Hamilton, illustration 26).  We therefore compare Eleanor Schanck’s handmade manuscript with the 1650 British 4-part turn-up book printed by Bernard Alsop, the 1654 British 5-part turn-up book printed by his widow, Elizabeth Alsop, and a facsimile of the earliest known American Metamorphosis, printed circa 1775 in Philadelphia (Hamilton 25).  Important to note is that the 4-part American Metamorphosis is itself closely based on the 1650 edition, with the exception of one stanza, which we discuss below.

For the most part, Eleanor’s version is similar to the 1650 version, however one substantial difference is the mermaid verse included in each.

The mermaid verse in the 1650 edition is as follows:

“The Mermaids voice is sharp and shril

As womens voices be ;

For if you crosse them in their will,

You anger two or three.”

1650 The Beginning, Progress, and End of Man. Photo courtesy of the British Library.

 

Eleanor’s version is as follows:

“Eyes look not on the mairmaids fase

Nor ears forbear her songs

Her face hath an alluring grace

More charming is her tongue”

1777Adam first comes first upon the stage [manuscript harlequinade]. Photo Courtesy of the Cotsen Library, Princeton University.

 

Eleanor’s version seems closest to the mermaid verse in the 1654 edition:

“Eys, look not on this Mermaids face,

And Ears, forbear her song :

Her face hath an alluring grace,

More charming is her tongue.”

1654 The Beginning, Progress, and End of Man. Photo courtesy of the Houghton Library, Harvard University.

 

The mermaid verse in the 1775 American Metamorphosis version is also similar to the 1654 edition:

“Eyes look not on the Mermaid’s Face,

Let Ears forbid her Song ;

Her Features have an alluring Grace

More charming than her Tongue.”

Facsimile of c. 1775 [Metamorphosis] in 1958 Hamilton, Early American Book Illustrators and Wood Engravers, 1670-1870, figure 26.

 

While the mermaid verses are quite similar in both the 1654 edition and the 1775 American Metamorphosis, Eleanor’s is most similar to the earlier British edition.  For example, she uses “forbear” rather than “forbid” in the second line, “face hath” rather than “features have” in the third line, and “More charming is her tongue,” rather than “More charming than her tongue.”  For these reasons, we speculate that Eleanor was working from the British editions, not the American.

Another significant difference we noticed between Eleanor’s handmade text and the 1650 British edition was the spelling of the word “lyon.”  The only known printed versions of the text that also uses this spelling is a 1688/9 version owned by Anthony Wood and published by Dunster, held at the Bodleian Library, an undated 17th century version, held at Penn State, and an undated British edition, owned by a private collector.  Based on this circumstantial evidence, we think Eleanor was likely British.

Facsimile of 16XX The Beginning, Progress, and End of Man. Photo Courtesy of Penn State Special Collections.

1777Adam first comes first upon the stage [manuscript harlequinade]. Photo Courtesy of the Cotsen Library, Princeton University.

 

*For a discussion of Eleanor Schanck’s artistic style, please see 2017 Reid-Walsh, Interactive Books pg. 218-219.

Re: Widdershins

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“Melmillo” by Dorothy Lathrop

In the previous entry Jacqui detailed her experience at the Walter de la Mare conference in Cambridge this past month. Although years have passed since her doctoral dissertation, Reid-Walsh’s current research on eighteen-century turn-up books aligned with her graduate work on de la Mare. By way of arguing that the theme of transformation found in his poems are compatible with the process of critical making, Reid-Walsh proposed to the audience at the conference the construction of a hypothetical turn-up book inspired by de la Mare’s work.

I was struck by the novelty of this idea. As a pedagogical tool, critical making is an incredibly immersive, creative and reflective process. With this in mind I familiarized myself with de la Mare’s poetry and decided to try and create my own turn-up book inspired by the poem “Melmillo”.

Process:
-The process began by reading the poem a few times and thinking about how I wanted to go about starting the turn-up book.
-I took a few minutes to think about how the different lines in the poem could be best incorporated in each flap and how I wanted to convey the transformation of the narrative in the poem.

Turn-up draft, sketching the concept

-It was surprising to me that as I thought about how to draw the elder wood/elder tree (line 2) mentioned in the poem, that I began to think more critically about the meaning of it in relation to the nymph-like nature of Melmillo.

 

Turn-up, first flap open

The mock-up draft:
-Used a blank turn-up book of my own making and began to sketch out my plan for the narrative. The turn-up books are easy to make. Take a rectangular piece of paper, in my case I used the standard 8.5 by 11 letter size. I folded the top and bottom to meet at the center and sketch three lines with pencil where I would cut the flaps.
-The concept was a simple one. Each flap would have an elder tree except the last one in which Melmillo reveals herself as a the “elder mother” of Celtic mythology.
-The idea was for the birds was (thirty-three in total at the beginning of the poem) to be part of the tree itself (leaves) and progressively leave the tree naked in the process of transforming into Melmillo. This made sense to me as the poem speaks of Melmillo’s breast being where the birds went to rest: “All the birds were flown to rest /In the hollow of her breast;” (lines 17-18)

Turn-up book, all flaps open

Admittedly, because of my artistic limitations I was not able to do as much with it with as my imagination would’ve liked. However, the process of making this object was the catalyst to other avenues of research. I recalled Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Elder-Tree Mother” as well as other folklore about dancing goddesses and tree spirits. Throughout my sketching, my curiosity grew and I began to research the symbolism of the elder wood and found affirming information regarding the Celtic, Germanic, and Judeo-Christian connections.

My research is in its beginning stages at the moment but already I have found some interesting sources on Celtic mythology and the Elder Mother. Most of the more Elder-mother/elder-tree specific sources were found in other academic blogs on mythology, however, some recently been published books (Ayn Cates Sullivan’s Legends of the Grail: Stories of Celtic Goddesses and The Book of Celtic Myths) were also of use while looking for information on myths about goddesses.

While looking for the root of the Elder tree’s folklore, the common assumption is that it arises from the plant’s extensive medicinal properties. Part of the mythology attached to it stems from it being thought to have the ability to protect from harm. It was believed that the Elder Mother or ‘Hylde Moer’ (Danish) was living inside of the tree as its spirit. This pairs well with de la Mare’s own interpretation of her in his poem “Melmillo” as well as Hans Christian Andersen’s take on the Elder mother. The transformation that Melmillo has undergone in the beginning lines of the poem is reflective of the process of transformation that is part of critical making. I’d be interesting in doing this exercise with other poems by de la Mare. The prevalent themes of transformation and movement in his children’s literature are suitable for an interactive interpretation of his poems.

 

Widdershins: connecting harlequinade turn-up books to Walter de la Mare’s poetry of transformation

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Mac Vermuelen and myself deep in conversation about de la Mare

Two weeks ago, I presented and animated a session at a conference devoted to reading Walter de la Mare, a British poet, short story writer, novelist and essayist. Although he wrote for adults and children, it is his children’s poetry that has long fascinated me. Indeed, I did my dissertation on his poetry writing during my daughter’s naptime. As I introduced my talk I observed that since she is now married and living in Nashville, the thesis was written a while ago!

When the organizers of the conference had first contacted me, I was thrilled and felt privileged to have the opportunity to revisit de la Mare’s work with my present-day interests in mind. As I immersed myself in his poetry over the summer, I sensed how his brilliant poems of transformation invite a connection with my passion for turn-up books! I submitted a proposal and it was accepted.

The conference was held in the English Department at Cambridge University and in the evening a performance of folk and opera music set to de la Mare’s poems was held at the beautiful Newnham College.  In keeping with the multimodal nature of his work, my talk was called “Widdershins: Transformations and multimodality in Walter de la Mare’s children’s poetry—an imagined metamorphic turn-up book project.” My hinge idea was linking de la Mare’s use of the transformation scene in pantomimes in order to explain how his child figures in his poetry temporarily enter another world to a type of turn-up book derived from the transformation scene — the harlequinade.  I took with me a PowerPoint based on several published harlequinades in special collections, a number of facsimiles based on one homemade religious turn-up book that Penn State owns, and some folded blank paper. My aim was to provoke thinking about how to make a turn-up that could demonstrate materially shifts in perception that the child figures and by extension readers experience when engaging with these poems.

Taken by Anne Welsh, University of London; de la Mare poem about the pantomime, illustration by Harold Jones

 

It was a busy half hour. I shared the images, my thoughts and handed out folded paper sheets and several poems we could possibly engage with –poems where children, girls and boys, through dance and twirling encounter a mysterious other or double. Although there was not enough time to make a book, in our brainstorming session people suggested different types of theatrical metamorphic movable books such as those with volvelles or complex turn-ups that might also work. After the session ended in addition to all keeping the facsimiles, some people took the folded paper away to work with their families at home.

Taken by Anne Welsh, University of London Harlequinade images courtesy of Penn State Special Collections

The experience of attending the conference, listening to brilliant and sometimes famous scholars was inspiring. More importantly since it was a small conference we all attended all the events together and the presence of the publisher grandson Giles de la Mare added a vital intertwined personal and research dimension. I am reading a book by one of the presenters about the sound of poetry and in correspondence with some other delegates. I look forward to continuing to work on bringing my two scholarly passions together.