After being absent from printshop for more than 2 months due to 'we all know what’ I'm happy to be back! As many of you might know my printshop 'Letterpress Corner' is currently closed for the public and I'm back at work at the printing department of the Museum of industry. Actively involved in the life of the printing department, as well as designing and typesetting posters from wood and metal type using a rich collection of the museum.
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Typographic Surprises! 26.02.2021
First of the Typographic Surprises! webinar series organised by Printing Historical Society. An online event not to be missed.
Dr Alexandra Franklin
A surprising journey to the third dimension
Librarians make every effort to keep things flat. When is it OK to go 3D? We will take a behind-the-scenes and inside-the-lines look at often-neglected collections of printing surfaces in one library, the Bodleian in Oxford. These testify to the three-dimensional history and nature of the printed page.
Alexandra is Co-ordinator of the Bodleian Libraries Centre for the Study of the Book and the Bodleian Bibliographical Press. She is the author of 'Woodcuts,' in Book Parts (2019) and of 'Casting Off: a journey in five starts,' in the journal Inscription 1, 2020.
Patrick Goossens
What came after punch cutting
At the outset of printing in the west, it is (almost) generally accepted that type was made via a steel punch driven in a copper matrix. The advent of the nineteenth, with its hankering for speed, efficiency and de-skilling, brought new technologies to the old trade. Pantographic punch and matrix cutting were one of them. Patrick will take us inside his Antwerp engraving room for a look at some of the different punch and matrix engraving equipment he has gathered over the last decades with a brief explanation and demonstration of the processes.
Born in Antwerp, the home-town of the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Patrick studied history at the University Antwerp and Louvain. Mesmerised by the Museum’s press room he started to collect and research historical printing and typecasting equipment. This collection has allowed him to research the tangible and intangible sides of printing history for his ongoing doctoral thesis on the dissemination of innovative printing technology in the nineteenth century, focusing on Belgium. Patrick has presented some of his preliminary findings, worldwide.
Martin Killeen
What is the use of a book without pictures?
This presentation will provide some perspectives on the illustration of early printed books including a brief comparison of the relatively few illustrated books of native literature published in England before 1700 compared to Continental Europe, especially Italy.
Martin Killeen, recently retired Rare Books Librarian at the Cadbury Research Library, spent more than thirty years exploiting the rich resources of the repository (printed books, archives and manuscripts) to support teaching, learning and research across all the disciplines within the University and beyond. This included delivering talks and presentations and using original materials to lead seminars and classes (which often cover themes relating to print and publishing history and physical bibliography). Martin also publishes papers based on the Cadbury Research Library's holdings.
Date And Time
Fri, 26 February 2021
19:00 – 21:00 CET
Register (free) - link
Quick links
1. Online classes by Brody Neuenschwander - link
2. Linocut contest by TYPA museum in Tartu (EE) - link + rules
3. The last trained typecaster in Europe, Rainer Gerstenberg has announced his retirement by the end of this year - link + video
4. Hamilton Wood Type& Printing Museum online poster gallery - link
Quick links
1. Inspired by St Bride. With Becky Chilcott, Dave Crossland, Tom Etherington, Alistair Hall, Sophie Hawkey-Edwards, Andrew Long, Simon Loxley, Sarah Pasquali, Vaibhav Singh and Kath Tudball.
14 January 2021. 7–9pm. Online via Zoom.
Tickets £5, £3 for concessions/students/Friends of St Bride - link
2. Reverting to Type 2020 is an exhibition of contemporary letterpress protest posters. These are artworks with something to say: sounding a warning signal about the global climate crisis, railing against fake news and surveillance capitalism, calling out racism, sexism and fighting for equal opportunities and, of course, reacting to the coronavirus pandemic.
This website serves as a digital record of the physical exhibition held at Standpoint Gallery in London, UK which displayed 200 posters from 105 artists in 16 countries.
Curated by Richard Ardagh and Graham Bignell of New North Press the project marks 10 years since their first Reverting to Type exhibition. As well as showcasing the work of the global letterpress community, New North Press have also produced twenty-six collaborative prints especially for the exhibition (cats A–Z) with invited artists, designers, poets, comedians, asylum-seekers, adults with learning disabilities and young people. Check out the full tour of the exhibition - link
3. Helmut Salden Uncovered 1:1 is the first international monograph on Helmut Salden (1910–96), exploring his original sketches and working drawings. The material spans the years 1939 through 1970. In those years, Salden was the most celebrated Dutch lettering artist. All drawings are reproduced at actual size and reveal in detail his pursuit of the ultimate form - link
4. Archivio Tipografico Online Store - link
Reverting to Type 2020: Protest Posters
This winter, New North Press is holding an exhibition of letterpress artworks with something to say. Marking 10 years since the last Reverting to Type exhibition, 2020’s show will be of letterpress protest posters. As before, this will be an international exhibition showcasing progressive letterpress artwork from presses around the world, alongside the work of students and specially-invited collaborators. I’m proud to have two of my works selected for this exhibition and I wish I could attend the opening.
Exhibition launch
3 December 2020
Live-streamed broadcast on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook
Exhibition dates
4 December 2020 – 29 January 2021 (restrictions allowing)
Location
Standpoint Gallery
45 Coronet Street
London N1 6HD
UK
Quick links
1. Short film about Jesse Marsolais who works in old ways – traditional methods of letterpress printing and letter carving in stone and wood - link
2. Christmas is coming! Pressing Matters magazine is offering 10% off all subscriptions taken out before the end of the year - link
3. The Plantin-Moretus Museum once again engaged creative talent to work with the collection of wood blocks. Twenty designers took part in The Print Project. From 105 strong candidates, a jury chose 20 artists who created a print inspired by the museum's impressive collection of woodcuts - link
4. Save the paper collection of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Den Haag) - link
St Bride Library 125th Anniversary. Help to share the power of language & secure their future!
St Bride Foundation is an independent cultural institute which cares for an internationally significant collection covering print, design and typography whilst working with the creative industries locally, nationally and internationally. Help to reopen their building and celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Library. read more