Monday 6 August 2012

Letterpress Workshop

I got a brilliant introduction to the wonderful world of letterpress a couple of weekends ago at the Hot Bed Press in Salford when I took part in a letterpress workshop. We were taught by the lovely Graham Moss of Incline Press who was kind enough to share his 20 + years of knowledge with a group of keen printmakers. 

The long history of letterpress (mid 15th century invention!) has meant old printing terms have slipped into common usage. Ever wondered the origins of 'upper case' and 'lower case' ? They refer to the two cases that hold the lead type, one containing the capital letters on the upper shelf and other containing the non-captials on the lower shelf. What do you call a printer's get-together or fair? A 'wayzgoose' apparently! 

So as we got to know our fonts from our founts and our ems from our ens, we set about setting type by hand using a composing stick, locking it in place in a chase using furniture and quoins and printing using Adana 5x8 platen presses. It was harder work than I imagined! I worked up a sweat trying to get the impression I was after, which was hard with the wood type I was using on a small press like the Adana. I ended up with a funny little postcard, which I am looking forward to sending out to friends and family back home.

 After sighing about how much I would love a letterpress at home, look what I found under my pillow one morning? Cheeky or what? 













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