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Andrew Steeves

Book Looks: Selections from the Press Library, Part 5

July 19, 2025

Hello Friends, and welcome back to Book Looks!

I began this blog series in 2021 to highlight some of the interesting volumes here in the St Brigid Press library — from the history of book-making to printing press maintenance, from typography and type design to the biographies of famous (or not) printers, and from paper-making to wood-engraving. We’ll take a brief look at three volumes today, and spotlight more over time.

Thanks for coming along as we browse the print shop shelves!

Emily Hancock

Previous Book Looks editions:

BOOK LOOKS, PART 5

Printing Presses: History & Development from the 15th Century to Modern Times by James Moran

First published in 1973 by the University of California Press, James Moran’s copiously illustrated introduction to the history of the relief (or letterpress) press and machine in Europe and America — the five hundred years of innovation and development that stretched from the mid-1400s to 1940 — was the most concise and comprehensive study up until the late-20th century. Since then, further historical research has refined our understanding of especially the earliest European printing, and there are other very important treatments of the much-earlier printing techniques that developed in China and Korea, yet Moran’s 250 pages is still a reliable survey of its subject. Not only does he get down to the literal nuts and bolts of printing press design and function, era by era, but he also helpfully locates those developments within their own unfolding cultural, industrial, and economic realities. From the first cast-iron versions of Gutenberg’s wooden handpress to jobbing platens and on to rotary cylinders, this is pretty engrossing (and well-written) history for those of us who admire the machines that made (and still make!) an indelible impression on the world.

2. Catalogue of Nineteenth Century Printing Presses by Harold E. Sterne

For an almost entirely visual guide to just the 19th century era of printing press design and manufacture, Harold Sterne’s Catalogue (published by Ye Olde Printery, Cincinnati, 1978) is a delightful presentation of engravings and period advertisements for letterpress machines. Sterne (1929-2010) was a co-founder of NA Graphics (which continues to this day its founding mission to provide printing supplies to the community) and he helped to save crucial historical documents and inventories for the Vandercook and Kelsey companies. In the Catalogue, each section begins with a brief 2-page introduction to a category of press: cylinder, hand, lithographic, platen, and rotary presses. The rest of the chapter is devoted to full-page illustrations chronicling the varying constructions of these “ornate monsters” from a dizzying array of manufacturers. A final chapter presents a selection of devices and tools that were also part of the 1800s printing trade, such as steam engines, paper dampening contraptions, and machines for casting and finishing printing plates. Last but not least, Sterne’s compilation is a fun window into not just presses, but also 19th century ad design and type design. Warning: this 380-page book is a fascinating visual rabbit-hole, from which you might not emerge in time for dinner!

3. Personal Impressions: The Small Printing Press in Nineteenth-Century America by Elizabeth M. Harris

A scholar of early printing technology and graphic arts, Elizabeth Harris surveys in Personal Impressions (David Godine, 2004) the astonishingly rich and varied history of small printing presses in the United States during the 1800s. She chronicles how eventual publishing behemoths like Knopf, Doubleday, Houghton, and Mifflin got their tiny starts with tiny presses. Equally interesting are the stories of amateurs and hobbyists, small businesses and children, who found great enjoyment as well as usefulness in the little machines that could turn out calling cards, labels, tickets, and letterhead. Harris also highlights the intense marketing campaigns (“Boys. Don’t be satisfied, and don’t rest till you own a printing Press…”, The Kelsey Company) and cutthroat business practices that manufacturers and dealers undertook in this fiercely competitive industry. A long chapter by Glover Snow (one time president of The Kelsey Company) from the 1930s provides further historical information. The bulk of this book, however, is taken up with a comprehensive catalogue of these small presses. Alphabetically by manufacturer, Harris presents a short description of each company’s designs and the dates and numbers of any known patents. Line drawings, engravings, and/or photos accompany each entry. I’ll leave us with the letter a generous young lad wrote to the Kelsey company in May of 1875: “I have been wanting to get a present for my brother for some time and I do not know of any thing which he would appreciate more than a Excelsior Press so I think I will send to you for a No. 1.” (Signed, W.C. Moat, from Amsterdam, NY. )

Well, that’s all for now, friends, as I gotta go ink up the 1909 Golding Pearl treadle press ;-) Stay tuned for future installments of Book Looks, and in the meantime, be well and read on!

Emily

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Book Looks: Selections from the Press Library, Part 4

January 19, 2024

Hello Friends, and welcome back to Book Looks!

I began this blog series in 2021 to highlight some of the interesting volumes here in the St Brigid Press library — from the history of book-making to printing press maintenance, from typography and type design to the biographies of famous (or not) printers, and from paper-making to hand-sewing books. We’ll take a brief look at three volumes today, and spotlight more over time.

This edition of the series is inspired by my trip to Canada last October, where I participated in a marvelous gathering (a “Wayzgoose”) at Gaspereau Press in Nova Scotia. You can read about that adventure HERE.

Thanks for coming along as we browse the print shop shelves!

Emily Hancock

Previous Book Looks editions:

BOOK LOOKS, PART 4

Design With Type by Carl Dair

To learn about the 20th-century-history of typography and design in Canada is to encounter the extraordinary work of Carl Dair. Born in Ontario in 1912, Dair became an exceptional graphic designer, teacher, and type designer, and in 1952 published Design With Type. This relatively slim but comprehensive volume became a staple resource in the trade, and is still available new from the University of Toronto Press who published the revised version in 1967 (although there are many inexpensive used copies floating around for you to snag). “Good design in any field demands that the designer know the materials with which he is working”; this is, essentially, Dair’s purpose for writing this book and his hope for his readers. The well-illustrated, concise tour of the forms and functions of type on the page is all in service of Dair’s ultimate vision —that of encouraging excellence in visual communication, not mere “visual stimulation.” [University of Toronto Press; I recommend the revised version published after 1967.]

2. Smoke Proofs: Essays on Literary Publishing, Printing & Typography by Andrew Steeves

My Canadian trip destination last autumn was Gaspereau Press in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Established in 1997 by Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield, Gaspereau is a relatively small offset- and letterpress-print shop that has had an outsized impact on the literary culture of its home province and beyond. From the digitally designed, offset-printed with letterpress jacket trade editions of poetry and prose, to Steeves’ completely letterpress printed fine press volumes, each book is an impeccably made home for excellent literature. In 2014, Steeves published a book of his own writing called Smoke Proofs: Essays on Literary Publishing, Printing & Typography. Rather than a “how-to” primer on typesetting or page layout, this collection from a true citizen-publisher is more of a what and why, “identifying issues, challenging dogma and agitating for our full and creative engagement with the many challenges we encounter when we set literary works into type and publish the results.” Steeves and his work have always called on me to be my best creative self for the good of the community I serve, and this book is a superlative guide and goad, inspiration and invitation, that I return to regularly. Smoke Proofs is a trustworthy, hand-held compass for anyone adventuring into the wilds of literary publishing and printing.

3. Keeping Watch at the End of the World by Harry Thurston

“All of us belong, as much as the black ducks / at rest in the harbour…”

Harry Thurston grew up in Nova Scotia and became a prize-winning poet and environmental journalist, as well as mentor to many students at the University of King’s College. His word-and-image collaborations with the renowned New Brunswick photographer Thaddeus Holownia (several volumes of which have been designed by Andrew Steeves) are exquisite. I was lucky to meet Thurston last autumn and to pick up copies of several of his books published by Gaspereau Press, including the outstanding Keeping Watch at the End of the World. The sea is a central presence in this beautiful collection. Whether writing about his native, booming Bay of Fundy or the Mediterranean’s millennia of layered stories, Thurston’s heart and eye take in and give back to us the intricate, flowing world. His ear, like his pulse, are tuned to the tides — whether oceanic, emotional, or historical. And he is always walking that wrack line, where the sea — whether the sea of time or of memory or of water itself— gives up its mysteries (and takes them back again). Grab a copy of Thurston’s work and enjoy his keen company in “This brief time we have to share / while the tide fills and empties the bay.”

(Apologies for the shadow-dappling on some of these photos below. My photographic error, not on the pages themselves.)

To close out our little trip to Canada, here’s a final word from Carl Dair — this poster hangs in a prominent position at St Brigid Press:

Well, that’s all for now, friends, as I gotta get back to setting some type ;-) Stay tuned for future installments of Book Looks, and in the meantime, be well and read on!

Emily

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The Ecology of Craft

April 28, 2020

In his book Smoke Proofs: Essays on Literary Publishing, Printing & Typography, Andrew Steeves talks about an “ecology of literature” — the writers, editors, printers, publishers, bookshops, readers, and more who connect and support each other in the complex web of print culture. There is a similar “ecology of craft,” a system of relationships that fosters—that makes possible—any made thing.

Even before this era of social distancing, I spent most days alone in my basement print shop, making books. With the heightened awareness brought by increased long-distance correspondence, and by having just completed a new chapbook of poems, I’ve been thinking even more than usual about all of the people whose work makes my work possible. This post spotlights some of them, from the type founders to the thread-makers, who are indispensable to bookmaking at St Brigid Press.

JUST OUR TYPE

One of our most essential and cherished connections is with the people who make the metal type we use to print with. Type metal, a carefully balanced alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, needs to be precisely cast if it’s to print precise letters. Thankfully, there are a number of foundries in operation today, in the US and around the world. Much of our type comes from a few trusted sources: Michael & Winifred Bixler in Skaneateles, NY, Patrick Reagh in Sebastopol, CA, and Rainer Gerstenberg in Germany. These folks are all fine printers as well as have a deep knowledge and dedication to the historic craft of typecasting. Some of the superior types they’ve cast fill the cases here at St Brigid Press: Centaur & Arrighi, Bembo, Goudy Old Style, Koch Antiqua. In addition, we have a good deal of older type from various sources, precious hand-me-downs we’re honored to keep in use.

WHOLE WORLDS OF PAPER

Sourcing beautiful papers with which to print beautiful words is a particular pleasure. And David Carruthers and his team at Saint Armand in Montréal have been supplying luscious sheets since 1979. We often use their thick handmade stock or machine-made stock for book jackets.

For text paper, we use Mohawk Superfine, French Rives, handmade Okawara, or others that are well-suited to the letterpress process. Our go-to paper sellers at Dolphin Papers in Franklin, Indiana, supply us with these, as well as with a kaleidoscope of Nepalese Lokta and Thai marbled sheets for decorative use. WARNING: Perusing pages and pages of fabulous paper is a serious rabbit-hole, and you may never emerge!

SEW IT UP

One of my early discoveries on this adventure was how much I enjoy hand-sewing. My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all sewed (garments and quilts), but I did not have much experience in this craft until learning the rudiments of making a book. I began experimenting with various needles, threads, and awls, working out which tools worked best for my purposes. For most books, I use Richard Hemming & Sons Darner #3 needles with unwaxed Irish linen thread in either 12 or 18 weight, both from Talas in NY. For years I’ve used a well-made cradle from Jim Poelstra in California to hold the book blocks while punching sewing holes.

GETTING INKY

Ink for use in fine printing is another specialized component of the letterpress process. I favor oil-base ink, and have come to rely on the formulas of Hanco Ink Co (outside of Chicago, Illinois) which have very good color density and tack. For large areas of vibrant color, I use a lot of stiff opaque white added to a color base. This provides excellent ink coverage and solidity. Graphic Chemical and Hawthorn Printmaker Supplies also have very good inks.

Well, that’s a quick glimpse at some of the many folks, materials, and tools that serve the craft of printing and bookmaking. It takes a village—one that values, supports, and relies on each other. I am deeply grateful to all the people who make the stuff that makes making stuff possible.