About the Book Arts Lab
Officially launched in 2020, the Book Arts Lab is a small printing room located in Rare Books and Special Collections.
The Book Arts Lab currently houses three functional printing presses: The Columbian, an iron press dating to 1821, making it the oldest of its kind in North America; a Golding Pearl Press (1912); and a Farley British proofing press, made in the 1960s. McGill Library is also very fortunate to hold two additional presses which await restoration: A Stanhope press, manufactured in Britain between 1813–1824; and a Washington press, manufactured by R. Hoe & Co. of New York around 1825.
The William Colgate History of Printing Collection is a complementary library collection on the history and technique of printing; calligraphy and letter forms; design of typefaces and typographical productions; type founding and type founders’ specimens and printers’ manuals and handbooks, including those for colour printing and paper making.
Contact Us
Rare Books and Special Collections
rarebooks.library [at] mcgill.ca (rarebooks[dot]library[at]mcgill[dot]ca)
514-398-4711
