Professor has hands on 400 years of biblical history

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This article was published 04/01/2012 (5067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paul Dyck had his fingers on the pulse of 400 years of biblical history in 2011.

Last year marked the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible — an English translation of the Bible sanctioned by British monarch James I in 1611, which is still widely used today.

To help mark the anniversary, Dyck — a Canadian Mennonite University professor and dean of humanities and sciences — served as curator for an exhibit at the University of Manitoba.

And in a recent hands-on demonstration at CMU, Dyck printed copies of the 1611 bible’s title page using 1960s printing press technology.

Working with the U of M, Dyck received a $4,000 grant from Manitoba Heritage to curate the university’s exhibit called This Booke of Starres: 400 Years of the King James Bible.

The free exhibit — which is set to run until April 30 at the Elizabeth Dafoe Library at the U of M’s Fort Garry campus — includes an original edition of the 1611 bible by the king’s printer Robert Barker.

Dyck has a passion for printing machines and technologies like proof, or letterpress, printing. CMU acquired its 1960 proof press from the U of M, which Dyck uses for printing projects.

“I love the one-off approach of using this machine and I like working in a quiet atmosphere,” Dyck said in a statement, noting he prefers to operate the press manually rather than running its motor.

Early printers created their images from ink painted on top of images carved onto wooden blocks.

The proof press utilizes a hand-propelled, drum-shaped feeder to move paper over an inked block to imprint the image. The block is then re-inked by hand for each additional print.  

Dyck said his main goal is to demonstrate the technology to his students.

He’s been busy printing copies of the 1611 bible’s title page from his modest print shop in CMU’s Founder’s Hall and has been busy helping faculty, staff and students print their own pages.

“Today, students are experimenting with text and images electronically using existing technologies,” Dyck said. “In the 1400s and 1500s, people were doing the same kind of experimentation, only using the technologies available at that time.”