For the love of letterpress

A collection of images of six ink-splattered and lead-stained weeks learning about letterpress.  Our workshop was at the St Bride’s Foundation, just off Fleet Street, and our printing presses were grand old cast iron Victorian affairs.  Metal and wooden type came in huge cases – the capitals stored in the upper part of the case (hence talk of letters being ‘upper-case’), with the lower-case letters, of course, stored in the lower cases.  As a writer it was wonderful to play with words in such a physical way.  Long may adventures in movable type and traditional printing continue.

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