The first book arts course at the University of Alabama was taught by Dr. Raymond F. McLain in 1972, as an interim course, "Basic Design and Practice in Printing." McLain created the course after a call was made for suggestions for courses that were not currently offered at the university. The course was part of the Graduate School of Library Service and served to support "History of Books and Printing," a course taught by the dean of the library school, James D. Ramer.

In 1974, McLain drafted Glenn House, Sr., the first full-time artist at the University of Alabama Press, to help teach the printing classes. Prior to this, Jim Wilder, director of University Relations, had been teaching the printing classes. The next year, House attended the Alabama Book Arts Conference, where he met Carolyn Hammer, who invited him to study with her in Lexington, Kentucky. Previously, Dr. McLain, while president of Transylvania College, had invited Hammer’s husband, Victor, to set up his press in Lexington in 1948.

In 1975, House traveled to Lexington to study the hand press under Hammer and calligraphy with Calvert Guthrie. Later in the year, Carolyn Hammer traveled to Verona, Italy, to commission a two-volume Hammer biography. Richard-Gabriel Rummonds sought her out, stating his interest in teaching printing practices in a U.S. book arts program. Hammer contacted Alabama on Rummonds’ behalf, and he became a visiting professor at the University. Rummonds taught letterpress printing on and off for 11 years, from 1977 to 1988.

In 1979, House and Rummonds began to push for the creation of a book arts program, stating worries that other disciplines were abandoning book arts and that the art of book making could be lost. In 1981, students under the direction of Glenn House hand-made the paper for invitations to the 150th anniversary of the founding of the University. By 1982, Rummonds had established Parallel Editions, another press run at the typographic laboratory. The same year, Steve Miller taught a summer workshop on printing on the Vandercook press. In 1988, a binding curriculum was established by Paula Gourley. The curriculum was only one of two such programs in the nation. The same year, Steve Miller was hired as a tenure-track printing faculty member.

The collection contains correspondence, administrative papers, and production materials from the early years of the Institute for Book Arts.

Correspondence relates to two matters: Glenn House, Sr., studying at Carolyn Hammer's printing operation in Lexington, Kentucky, and printing commissions by Gorgas Oak Press and Parallel Editions.

Administrative papers contains invoices, materials relating to the Graduate School of Library Service, and typefaces used by the presses operating out of the typographic laboratory.

Production materials pertain to several works produced by Gorgas Oak Press, Parallel Editions, and Symposium Press. Present are mock-ups, layouts, binding plans, proofs, corrections, and seconds. Works represented here are Ray by Barry Hannah and Nothing Rich, But Some Things Rare produced by Gorgas Oak Press; Return & Other Poems by Giannes Ritsos and Just Shades by James Tate produced by Parallel Editions; and On Equal Terms: Poems by Charles Bernstein, David Ignatow, Denise Levertov, Louis Simpson, Gerald Stern produced by Symposium Press.