On the class’ trip to Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, I had a wonderful time. I got to explore information about the marketing and business materials of Lost Roads Publishers. Through exploring the documents, I learned of the small press’ journey in publishing.
Overall, the experience felt incredibly magical. This is my first time properly getting to do hands on research about something that will actually be relevant to my future career goals.
One thing I did not expect to pay attention to prior to opening up the folder of documents in the Beinecke was texture. Several of the papers I looked at were far more textured than can be conveyed in images, this was caused by ink on the page, previous folds in the paper, and pieces being glued or taped together.
The first document I encountered in the folder of history was a business card from Lost Roads Publishers. It not only provides the press’ name, but also its mailing address, phone number, and logo. Surprisingly, the logo is what drew most of my attention as it was extremely textured under my fingers. Something about the cross-hatching of the ink has created a layered feeling that I can’t imagine achieving with a modern printer.
She is a poet to the prose line born, playing with possibilities of plot as though it were a metrical system, rhymed with thought’s assonantal drift
Robert Coover, A Bad Business
When I came across this quote as an excerpt of Lost Roads Number 27 1985 I was compelled to write it down. Something about these words from four decades ago spoke so clearly to me. I did a search for the writer’s name and discovered that up until about six months ago he was still alive.
This single sheet of paper was fascinating to me. I investigated each piece of text and image as the different paragraphs were pasted on to the page independently of one another. Additionally, in the center column, each letter of the name “John” was glued on individually. More evident on the back then the front were the spots where the page had been folded into thirds to create a pamphlet.
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to experience the Beinecke as a class with items pulled to meet our specialized projects. I would love to experience more of the resources the Beinecke has to offer.
