Crandall Printing Museum

I had the opportunity of visiting the Crandall Historical Printing Museum last year. For those of you who have never visited the museum, I highly recommend it! The cozy cottage exterior gives the museum a nice environment, and the inside is an amazing display of artifacts, replicas and demonstration materials. If anyone is even remotely interested in the history of the printed word, this place will amaze you. I was quite surprised that this place existed in a town like Provo, and that I had never even heard of it.
As the tour began with the replication of the Gutenberg Press, I was immediately drawn into the discussion. I loved the enthusiasm of our guide, because it seemed to me like the subject matter could have been quite boring. Instead, our guide had some fascinating insights into the press that I had never heard before. The pain-staking work that the pressers put in as they labored over the moveable type and sticky ink. Every individual letter had to be placed in the press separately. Row by row, page by page, the printer worked on making sure everything was spelled correctly. Each letter had to be inserted backward in order to produce a copy that the words could read in the normal direction. I could definitely appreciate the work it took to produce a book. I couldn't even imagine the kind of effort it took to produce a book as large and complicated as the Bible. However, it was because of this unique and important invention that so many were able to read the word of God. For so many, the Bible became an accessible and readable work. Christianity saw some major growth at this time because of the ability for even the most common to have access to the scriptures.
After seeing the Gutenberg Press we were lead on a tour throughout the home-like museum being able to view important technological updates that were made throughout the years. We discussed the importance of these technologies in relation to mass distribution of the printed word. Such technologies became very important to the American colonies as they were distributing their ideas far and wide, promoting a united effort against the tyrannical force of the British.
The printed word continued to develop and technology made it possible for the Book of Mormon to be produced for a relatively inexpensive cost and published in large quantities. The E.B. Grandin Press served as the first publishers of the Book of Mormon, and with a substantial donation from Martin Harris, several hundreds of copies of the Book of Mormon were published over the course of mere months. This kind of technology is a testimony to me that the Lord guides inspired men to do His work. The Crandall Printing Museum is a unique place and a landmark in the city of Provo.