Crandall Historical Printing Museum

I had the privilege of spending some time at the Crandall Museum, just south of campus, which takes its visitors through the process of printing. The tour begins with an exact replica of Gutenberg's printing press and the fascinating process that he went through on his road to this amazing invention which confounds me. He first had to create a mold of every letter which took some time due to finding the correct metals, to creating the precise metal to fill the mold but not shrink or expand too much, to the press which he fashioned after a wine press and inventing his own unique blend of thick ink to stay on the top of the letter and how to transffer the ink onto those letters--awe inspiring. Gutenberg was indeed a remakable man who tenacity proceeded onward after trial and error with inguinuity which I can no where near match.

The tour then leads into a revolutionary time period of the 18th century followed by a presentation of how the first copies of the Book of Mormon were made--testimony building. I was blown away that the two printers could print 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon in seven months while setting the type one word at a time--first by taking the letters one by one out of the cases and arranging them backwards, upside down, while filling in the appropriate punctuation in their heads. Incredible--how the realization of the Book of Mormon came from the ancient golden plates to our version today.


The entire trip filled me with awe and appreciation for the printed word. I strongly believe that anyone interested in literature MUST go.