Archive Item of the Month – March 2013
6th March 2013
This month the University of Gloucestershire is hosting exhibitions and events as part of the Impress International Printmaking Festival 2013. To correspond with this our archive item this month is a collection of material from the Tarsus Press, set up and run by students during the 1960s and 1970s.
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| Tarsus Press material (archive reference unaccessioned boxes 14-15) |
Students at St Paul’s College met as a Printers’ Guild each Tuesday evening. The printing press and guillotine were housed in the old Practising School (now the Bodley building at FCH).
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| Tarsus Press type (archive reference UA30/5/1) |
The Tarsus Press produced various materials documenting College life, from programmes for carol concerts in the Chapel and dramatic productions to Christmas cards and RAG related documents. The University Archive holds a wide range of this material.
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| Tarsus Press material (archive reference unaccessioned boxes 14-15 |
The Tarsus Press produced various materials documenting College life, from programmes for carol concerts in the Chapel and dramatic productions to Christmas cards and RAG related documents. The University Archive holds a wide range of this material.
An extract from a Tarsus Press leaflet c.1963 explains why it was beneficial to teach printing techniques to trainee teachers at St Paul’s College:
Tarsus Press attempts to show the whole College ways in which printing can be a vital part of everyday life. We hope that some of these ideas and ideals will find their expression in schools of the future, for many secondary schools are now installing presses… the development of aesthetic understanding [can] enrich everyone’s daily life
The University will be hosting a talk by John Randle of the Whittington Press on Saturday 9th March in the Archive Room at FCH (doors open 10.30am, talk begins at 11am). John will be giving a talk on the Whittington Press, another printmaking-related collection held by the University Archives and Special Collections, as part of the Impress Festival. The talk is free and can be booked by emailing festival@gpchq.org.uk. The Festival’s webpage can be accessed here.