\centerline{\bf UK \TeX\ Users in Cambridge}
\smallskip
\noindent
Tuesday July 24th saw the second of the `small' 
meetings of the group. This was a real contrast to the
fonts workshop. The morning was given to a visit to David
Kindersley's workshop, and the afternoon to the
Printing division of Cambridge University Press.

David has long been a `friend' of \TeX, and many will
recall his talk at last year's meeting in Aston. He works
mainly with stone, creating some of the finest monemental
inscriptions to be found in Britain. His talents are now
much in demand, and it was a particular honour and
pleasure to be able to visit the workshop. We tend to
trace the origin of our traditional letterforms to the
Roman inscriptions, particularly those on Trajan's
column. Of course this is only part of the story, but it
is fascinating to observe the mechanics of translating
letterforms into stone. But don't get the idea that this
is a simple extension of a 2000 year tradition:
Kindersley is also an innovator. He has created a number
of inscriptions which are emminently readable, but which
play with letterforms to add an element of the
unexpected. And we have to note too the semi-intuitive
work he has done on letter spacing. In some ways it would
be true to say that he believes the spaces between
letters to be as important as the letters themselves.
Balance is everything. He has developed a numerical
technique which produces an `optimum' spacing. Although
we didn't quite get to the definition of optimum, it is a
system that would not be too difficult to implement with
\MF\ and \TeX.

If there are particular aspects of the visit to the
workshop which were particularly pleasing they were the
warm welcome which was extended to about 20 large and
loud people, the great hospitality of all
the workers there, David's keen enthusiasm for what he is
doing, and his openness. I am particularly pleased that
he is recognised now for the great craftsman (dare I say
`technician', {\it sensu} $\tau\epsilon\chi\nu\eta$) that
he is. He achieves an unbelievable combination of
technical ability and artistry.

A caravan of cars then left for CUP, where we were
treated to a very fine lunch, courtesy Rod Mulvey. Again,
\TeX ies will be aware of the \TeX-to-Type service which
the printing division offers. Rod gave us the background
to the service (in a room which contained a number of
David Kindersley's alphabets, providing a nice
continuity), and Joe Muncaster described some of the
two-column work that he had been doing for journal
production. Of course, this means floating figures
across one and two columns. This was an impressive piece
of work which was well received by the group.

The restriction to 20 people for this meeting was imposed
by the visit to `the factory' as the printing works is
termed, since a tour is restricted to about 10 people.
This was an especially fascinating and instructive tour.
The sheer amount of work which has to be done after a
book leaves the editor's hands really emphasises that
`desktop publishing' is a myth. The wise talk of `desktop
mastering'. The creation of the plates for printing, the
printing itself, the reduction to bundles
(bunches?) of leaves, their collection into `the book',
the binding\dots\ CUP handles a very wide range of
printing, including a number of the more
specialised areas, like printing on very lightweight
paper. This requires some very `old' equipment,
since these specialisms are not supported well by
the manufacturers of presses and folding
machines. Equally, some of the very latest techniques,
like `notch-binding' are also carried out. A fascinating
introduction to a side of publishing that we rarely
encounter.

Again the warmth of the welcome and the willingness to
inform and instruct was gratifying.

The success of this meeting should encourage the
group to pursue similar activities which help to broaden
our range of experience in the entire area of typography
and publishing.
\author{\mwc}
