The Davidson College Letterpress Lab was founded in Summer 2018, with the arrival to Davidson College of its current coordinator, Dr. Andrew Rippeon. Rippeon brought with him to Davidson a small collection of type and two cylinder proof presses: a Vandercook #3 and a Vandercook #4. The #3 was removed from a warehouse in Utica, NY, and the #4 from a barn in Sherburne, NY (behind the Sherburne News, a local newspaper in continuous operation since 1864). Most of our wood type was rescued from a shuttered basement print-shop in Morrisville, NY (The Saxon Press). Since arriving at Davidson, Rippeon has been developing the material holdings of the Letterpress Lab, most recently by coordinating and supervising a substantial donation of type and other equipment formerly held by the Charlotte-based commercial print-shop, Crayton-Heritage.
