Printing Happy New Year postcards - the type is 72pt Whedon’s Gothic Outline, printed in 2 passes because I don’t have enough “good” sorts to run the whole thing in one shot. The Pearl LOVES outlined types and any other faces with with thinner stroke weights because this little press isn’t designed for big color fields or high pressure. Look for these in the January APA bundle!
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#letterpress #goldingpearl #typography #letterpressprinting #metaltype
I’m a metal type shop, but I’ve had this Bunting base (magnetic) for years. So I ordered some steel plates and gave it a whirl… quite pleased with the results. The image is on a 94SB plate and the text is hand-set in 30pt Lilith that came from Roland Hoover’s estate. I’m enchanted with the Lilith in this setup because it has large punctuation relative to the characters, which helps the green text with big red periods give the same effect as traditional 2-color holly ornaments with red berries. Colors are Dense Black, Warm Red, and mixed green that’s approximately Pantone 356 (John Deere Green). Paper is Boxcar Flurry. Printed on the 1892 Golding Pearl No. 3, which says 1891 on the casting but the serial number is from February 1892… so the plant using up leftover parts from the prior year.
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#letterpress #metaltype #goldingpearl
Great times at the University of Maryland for the APHA Chesapeake Wayzgoose yesterday. They brought out some heavy hitters from the special collection, including a Kelmscott Chaucer and William Morris’s personal Wayzgoose invitations(!). Oh wowwwwww.
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#aphachesapeake #letterpress #letterpressprinting #metaltype #wayzgoose #kelmscottpress #williammorris #printingpress
Getting an early start on my APA bundle submissions for next year, using some scrumptious Mohawk SuperFine 130# Double Thick Cover, a great foundry-metal caravel ornament, and 12pt Civilité to match. I ran off 180 of these in 17:41, including 3 dropped pieces of paper (which required stopping the press) and 1 trip back to the box to get more paper… that’s a rate of 610.75 UPH. I bet I could get to 1000 UPH if I moved the locked up form up to the very top of the chase and didn’t make any mistakes.
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#letterpress #letterpressprinting #metaltype #civilité #civilite #printingpress #metaltype
12pt ALPHA BLOX!!! Hooray! These are among the coolest typographic elements in all the land. ATF issued them in 12, 24, and 36. Skyline TF sells a handsome set in 36pt but the 12pt and 24pt are vanishingly rare. I picked these up from @letterpressdude and they look great. Not only can they assemble into letterforms, but also solid shapes and squiggly lines, creeping vines, with positives and negatives. The mats survived the ATF auction and their location is known; I hope to see a revival casting one day.
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#alphablox #americantypefounders #typography #letterpressprinting #letterpress #metaltype #metaltypemonday
Will it align? Latin Condensed is one of my house faces. It’s been around since Victorian times from many foundries. ATF cast it as number 550, and it was still in common use well into the 2000s: see the column header “A CREEPING HORROR” on the front page of the New York Times on September 11, 2001. A friend came across some 18pt LC and sent it my way; it has a different nick and different pinmark but looks like it’ll align!
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#latincondensed #metaltype #letterpress
Lancaster Printers Fair loot shoot: 1 - absolutely smashing and so-close-to-complete 2 color initials. I’ve gotta hit the specimen books to figure out what these are, but I certainly couldn’t pass on ‘em (UPDATED: Cincinnati Initials, shown on page 943 of the 1912 ATF catalog). 2 & 3 - Inland Type Foundry Drew in 12, 24, and 30. I have this face in 18pt and have been searching for more for YEARS. It’s rare, but relatively obscure and unknown because the Arts & Crafts movement doesn’t have as much of a muscular presence in the letterpress zeitgeist as, say, Art Deco or Art Nouveau. It’s tough to find and I’m so deeply stoked to have it. 4 - 48pt Franklin Initials. These aren’t rare, but they sure are charming. I love the B with the little book. 5 - PT Barnum NOS 12pt (though I prefer its original name, French Clarendon, which was around long before ATF branded it after the circus tycoon). This extends my French Clarendon run to 48-36-18-12 which unlocks the ability to print any WANTED poster my inky heart desires. And note well, friends! I have duplicates of French Clarendon / PT Barnum for sale in 36 and 48pt, send a DM if it strikes your fancy. 6 - cards from Gingerly Press. Can’t wait to mail these. 7 - swingin’ cut of a second generation Corvette Stingray coupe. This was on my neighbor’s table all day, and I coveted it, and was SHOCKED that nobody else scooped it up. I thought it would sell faster than Mike’s cut of the Starship Enterprise! So I bought it at the end of the fair. So zoomy. 8 - Primrose Border, the latest from @bowerbox which is going to be such fun to print multi-colors.
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#frenchclarendon #frenchclarendonfont #lancasterprintersfair #letterpress #letterpressprinting #metaltype #inlandtypefoundry #bowerboxpress #stingray
Great fun at the Lancaster Printers Fair yesterday! @lancasterprintersfair Saw many friends, made some new ones, sold some treasure, and (try as I might to resist) bought some treasure. I shared a vendor table with my friend and fellow APA’er @letterkraftpress who has such good stuff, and we were next to @gingerlypress whose printing has such a terrific style. Got some new Primrose border from @bowerbox , some long-searched-for Inland Drew from @lead_graffiti , and (of course) @marishasimons swung by to scoop my best and sauciest cuts. Loot shoot coming soon!
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#letterpressprinting #letterpress #lancasterprintersfair #metaltype #printingpress
1906 Keystone Type Foundry Catalogue and Specimen book. This was my very first specimen. I found it online from a seller who was only accepting trades for bookbinding supplies. We worked out a deal: two 4” x 4” boxes of mostly 19th century ornaments in exchange for the book. Swoon. Years later with Mark Barbour and Lloyd Bowcott I saw the original matrices for Lotus Initials (photo 10) in the Smithsonian warehouses. They’ve been de-accessioned to the Printing Museum now and may one day be cast again. There’s also a great YouTube video of Rich Hopkins buying the Keystone Crayonette matrices at the ATF auction and then casting them. For searchability: Keystone Ayer, Keystone Lowell, Lining De Vinne Series, Keystone Quill and Quill Outline, Keystone Facade Condensed No. 2, Keystone Gothic Script, Keystone Crayonette, Repousse Border, Festoon Border, Stipple Tint, Outing Initials, Colonial Initials, Meridale Initials, Ben Franklin Initials, John Alden Initials, Lotus Initials, Hancock Condensed Initials, Caslon Initials, Ancient Roman Initials, 20th Century Initials, Keystone Marginal Initials, Thistle Border, Holly Border, Maple Leaf Border, Rose Leaf Border, Morning Glory Border, Festival Border.
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#letterpress #letterpressprinting #metaltype #keystonetypefoundry #typography #typographydesign #bookbinding
