THE HISTORY

OF LETTERPRESS

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not believe to be useful or believe to be beautiful…”

Morris, 1880

In the West the invention of the printing press is credited to Johannes Gutenberg in the 1430s. His printing of the Gutenberg Bible went on to revolutionise the Western world with the new found ability to accurately and efficiently reproduce text. Until this point literature had to be painstakingly hand copied making books extremely expensive and the literacy of the populous devastatingly low.

Throughout the following centuries letterpress practice changed very little. Presses were improved, new inks were favoured and parts became automated but the basic principle of arranging letters to form sentences and then books is still almost the same as 600 years ago.

Letterpress suffered greatly with the invention of modern printing and the digital age. Computers meant books could be printed faster, cheaper and on even larger scale. However, a few printers kept the practice alive quietly in the background and inspired a new generation of printers of which we are happy to be included.

“Today there is no reason to continue with letterpress unless it is used to promote only the best possible workmanship, allied to the best possible design … it should not appear as a predictable pastiche … but display its flexibility. ”

Jury, 2004