Nicolas Barker visited Wells College last Thursday where he visited the Book Arts Center and gave a brilliant talk to the community. The lecture was attended by book arts board members, faculty, students, and friends. Barker discussed his connection to Printing and the Mind of Man, a book that was published in 1967 and based on an exhibition of books at the British Museum. The books chosen were based on an intellectual contribution through fine printing. Stanley Morison, John Carter, and Percy H. Muir were three very important figures in curating the exhibition and producing the catalogue.  We walked away with a deeper understanding of curatorial work and collaboration in relation to the production of fine press books.

Nicolas Barker at the Bixler Press & Letterfoundry; photo taken by Winnie Bixler

The following day, Barker made a trip to Skaneateles to visit Michael and Winnie Bixler at their letterfoundry. Michael and Winnie showed Barker their collection of beautiful molds for casting metal type as well as their current book projects. All of the Bixlers’ type specimens of type can be viewed here at the their website.

We thank Nicolas Barker for making his journey to Wells, and all those who made the event possible. We will be sharing a video of his talk soon if you missed it!