Above: Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. "Robert Fighting Bob La Folette Quote" (2019) Letterpress on found map
Letterpress printing, also called Relief Printing, or Typographic Printing, in commercial printing, process by which many copies of an image are produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. Letterpress is the oldest of the traditional printing techniques and remained the only important one from the time of Gutenberg, about 1450, until the development of lithography late in the 18th century and, especially, offset lithography early in the 20th.
BASICS
INKS
EMBOSSING
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TYPE COLLECTIONS
REPAIRING WOOD TYPE |
What is wood type?
Wood has been used for letterforms and illustrations dating back to the first known Chinese wood block print from 868 CE. The forerunner of the block print in China was the wooden stamp. The image on these stamps was most often that of the Buddha, and was quite small. Provided with handles to facilitate their use, they were not unlike the modern rubber-stamps of today. In Europe, large letters used in printing were carved out of wood because large metal type had a tendency to develop uneven surfaces, or crack, as it cooled. – Content Courtesy of David Shields |
TYPE COLLECTIONS
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What is type founding?
From Gutenberg’s invention of “movable type” in the 1400’s until the mid 1800’s, type founding remained essentially the same—type metal was poured by hand into a mould closed by a matrix. |
Tortilla Press Printing – instagram
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References (in progress)