Crandall Printing Museum

I was admittedly surprised by how much I enjoyed my visit to the Crandall Printing Museum. I found particularly interesting the thread Mr. Crandall sought to create between Gutenberg, the foundation of the United States, and the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon.

What surprised me the very most was how little the printing press evolved up until the 20th century. Gutenberg's first machine was a converted olive press, but looks so similar to the model still being used during the American revolution. And although the printing press that was used to print the Book of Mormon was iron, it too works in virtually the same way. We still use the exact same metal for printing that Gutenberg invented - an alloy of tin, alloy, and lead.

I was also impressed and reminded of the importance of the printed word. Gutenberg's Bible helped but religion back into the hands of individuals rather than in the hand of the upper stratus of the Catholic church. This sped the religious reformations and the Renaissance of the 16th and 17th centuries, which we've all learned since the beginning of our liberal education was essential to the discovery and founding of the Americas. And of course, our own liberal education would be impossible without Gutenberg's innovation.

The patience and persistence and strength required to invent and even operate a printing press is astounding. Setting type, sorting the letters, pulling the lever on the press... Mr. Crandall pointed out that it would've been next to impossible to print the Book of Mormon as quickly as they did without some divine grace to speed things along.

My favorite part of the tour was actually towards the end - I realize that I'm actually quite interested in book binding, and I think I should try to take the class! It sounds so cool! And it's offered on Tuesday and Wednesday from 5 to 9 in Fall Semester... Hm. I think I like that.

I'd definitely recommend a visit to the Printing Museum. It was long but really interesting. Thumbs up.