Next week, I will have the opportunity to use an original 1950s letterpress which is owned and operated by Tanya Roberts {Snap + Tumble}. I have been following Tanya’s blog for a couple of weeks and when I saw her offer a curiosity course on how to operate a letterpress, I jumped at the chance.
By Catherine Lash
Students working the press
I have to supply the paper for the course, and that has been a lesson of itself . There are many many different types of paper you can use for letterpress all with their own unique characteristics: smooth, velvety, bright white or antique, etc. I have no idea what would look the best, so I decided to purchase four different types to compare.
Drawers upon drawers of paper to choose from at Woolfitt's
I am excited to get my hands dirty and create and I will have a full letterpress report for you next week. In the meantime, below is a little letterpress history, thanks to Wikipedia
Letterpress printing is a term for the relief printing of text and image using a press with a “type-high bed” printing press and movable type, in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image. It was the normal form of printing text in the West from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century, and remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. In addition to the direct impression of inked movable type onto paper or another receptive surface, the term letterpress can also refer to the direct impression of inked printmaking blocks such as photo-etched zinc “cuts” (plates), linoleum blocks, wood engravings, etc., using such a press.