Marlan Beilke (known in letterpress printing lore as Linomarl) paid tribute to his beloved Linotype machine with a pair of broadsides. Workiing in his Amador City, California letterpress shop, Mr. Beilke became famous for his many printed books and broadsides. I have a few copies of two of his Linotyupe broadsides. When they are gone, […]
Alas, winter will soon be upon us. Though it’s not my favorite season, it does have its charms. I think the secret to enjoying it is to accept its moods. When it howls and snorts and brings Canada’s worst our way, then bundle up, settle in, and take the time winter just provided to pull […]
Life in the Back Shop by Robert MacGregor Shaw I have done a lot of books on a lot of different subjects, but this has always been among my favorites. It’s a collection of recollections from printers who slugged their way through life in the back shops of newspapers during the earlier part of the […]
Hand-set type cabinets The other day I came across a blog post by a letterpress printer praising the achievements of “Women of Color” and “Women” for their contributions to printing history. The blog set me to thinking, so I jotted a note to the printer who wrote the initial blog. Perhaps you will agree with […]
He’s a Bookish Treasure Greg Campbell has been a key player in the Twin Cities book arts community for decades. He learned the bookbinding trade from his father, who owned Campbell-Logan Bindery before passing it along to Greg. In 1979, Greg invested in a bold expansion of the family bindery when he rehabilitated an old […]
Gone are the days when young men found their way into newspaper and print shop work as printers’ devils. Their life could be difficult, it could be dangerous, it could stink–and yet young men kept knocking on newspaper and print shop doors looking for a chance to start their careers. Life in the Back Shop […]
While newspaper work was traditionally a male dominated domain, it was by no means reserved strictly for men, and for women who got into the trade, the work was demanding, dangerous and full of adventure. It was also filled with plain everyday chores which define the life of most tradesmen and women. “Evonne Angello’s experience […]
I just came across a fascinating article which came courtesy of The Guardian newspaper. It reports on the discovery of a marvelous book which may open a world of new information for book lovers and historians alike. How exciting it would be to hold his book in hand, even though it’s contents would be locked […]
Life in the Back Shop by Robert MacGregor Shaw Among the nightmares that haunted printers during hot-metal days was the specter of the instantaneous destruction of hours of work. Printers called it pieing type. When it happened, it was equally instantly accompanied by a barrage of non-deleted expletives. Bob Shaw remembered pieing stories in his […]