letterpress charm

The written word-the social tie that binds the world.  

Letterpress printing-a method of relief printing is one of the oldest printing methods known and had long been at the helm of the publishing industry, largely unchanged into the twentieth century when offset, and ultimately digital printing methods became the cheaper and more efficient way to print for the mases.  

Johannes Gutenberg-the German inventor and printer is wildly credited with starting the European printing revolution.  Sharing the written word and spreading literature with the masses with his European introduction of movable type-most notably in his famous publication-the Gutenberg Bible.   Pre-cursing the renaissance, Gutenberg’s original letterpress design was based off of models of hand cranked wine presses.  

The surge of the industrial revolution, lead to the conversion of hand crank letterpresses to mechanized versions of presses in the 1890’s.  Originally designed to run off steam engines these cast-iron machines were used in large scale print-houses to greatly increase volumes and efficiency.

While letterpress has no doubt made a comeback as of late and has thankfully seen a revival in artisanal works; the trade nearly vanished as it was rendered largely obsolete in the 1960’s. Many presses found themselves collecting dust in basements or being cast aside in farmers’ fields.  Presses that were given away in the early 1990’s, often for scrap, today are rare to come by and cost thousands of dollars to procure.   

Its charm-Letterpress does have its quirks-it’s a skill set, it’s an art.  Letterpress machines can be finicky, they’re old, they’re often caked with years of oil and ink.  They’re heavy- and all 52 pivot points require frequent oiling.  These pre-modern machines require care and detailed attention to remain operational and functioning properly-not to mention they require a fair bit of planning in any studio space.   

 For as much care and doting that the machines require- the process of type-setting and printing is equally involved. It is a much more involved process than simply feeding paper into a machine.  Paper registration takes skill and practice to master.  Inks are often mixed by hand, each color on a letterpress stationery piece must be hand-fed through the machine each time to achieve a multiple color piece-as letterpress machines only run one color at a time.  Papers are costly and at times hard to source- Letterpress takes a soft but thick paper that will take the “punch’ of the type.   

 But this is all done by craftsman for the love of letterpress, for the love of the craft, and when done properly renders a piece of stationery art, with an elegance and handmade luxurious feel of archival quality.  

Letterpress machines are traditionally named after a woman, and not to be one to break from tradition, the Skelley West letterpress is named ‘Martha.’

 -kate