The Printing and the Mind of Man Exhibition Concentrates on the History of Printing Technology & Texts Influential on Western Civilization

• The Printing and the Mind of Man exhibition took place in London at Earls Court Exhibition Centre during a period of only two weeks, from July 16 to July 27, 1963. Concurrently an exhibition of examples of Fine Printing was mounted at the British Museum from July to September 1963.

The lengthy and complex title of its catalogue, with an emblem and tailpiece designed and engraved by Reynolds Stone, read: Catalogue of a display of printing mechanisms and printed materials arranged to illustrate the history of Western civilization and the means of the multiplication of literary texts since the XV century, organised in connection with the eleventh International Printing Machinery and Allied Trades Exhibition, under the title Printing and the Mind of Man, assembled at the British Museum and at Earls Court, London, 16-27 July 1963. The soft-cover catalogue described and illustrated with 32 black & white plates, and a color plate reproducing a page from the Mainz Psalter, more than 656 examples of printing technology and printing, documenting the influence of printing technology and printed texts on the development of Western civilization.

It is probable the exhibition of the history of printing technology occupied more space than the exhibition of printed books, and may also have been more difficult to assemble than the several hundred books exhibited. Throughout the exhibition famous books were exhibited along with examples of the technology involved with their production. For example, on p. 74 the exhibition catalogue described iron handpresses in use at the beginning of the 19th century, and on p. 75-80 they described an elaborate exhibition of the development of printing machines under the heading they called "The Application of Mechanical Power." Following that they began the exhibition of influential books printed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

From my perspective, the history of printing technology, which was at the core of the original Printing and the Mind of Man exhibition, was largely forgotten. What the book trade and many collectors primarily drew from the exhibition was the exhibition of original texts.

The catalogue also described, and illustrated with 16 black & white plates, an exhibition of 163 examples of Fine Printing mounted at the British Museum from July to September 1963. At the end of their Acknowledgements on p. 9 of the catalogue the Supervisory Committee for the exhibition– librarian Frank Francis, typographer and historian of typography Stanley Morison and writer and antiquarian bookseller John Carter– stated:

"We pay tribute to the organizers of the Gutenberg Quincentenary Exhibition of Printing, assembled at Cambridge in 1940 (and prematurely disassembled because of the risks from enemy bombing). It was our original inspiration for several sections of our display, and its invigorating catalogue has been our constant friend."

Comparison of the 641 items described in the catalogue of 1940 with those described in the catalogue of 1963 show a great deal of overlap, especially as Percy Muir and John Carter, who had been prime movers in the exhibition in 1940, were extensively involved with the exhibition of 1963. The 1963 exhibition and its catalogue were, of course, significant expansions and improvements over the early wartime effort.