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Letterpress Printing
Terms used in this document
Letterpress - description of typographic elements printed from a raised surface
Letterpress printing - the art of printing from a raised surface such as type or blocks
Type - pieces of metal cast with an image in relief on the upper surface
Block - a wood or metal base on which a metal printing plate is mounted
Chase - the metal forme, or cast or wrought iron, in which type or block matter is set up for printing
Forme - the configuration of type and/or illustrative matter set up in a chase
Letterpresss printing
Letterpress printing is the art of printing from a raised surface such as type or blocks. Types are pieces of metal individually cast with an alphabetical character in relief. These characters are hand picked from a case, set in a small hand-held tray called a composing stick to form a line of words. The composing stick can be adjusted to any length of line. A number of lines are set in the composing stick and then transferred to a metal frame, called a chase.
The lines of type, and the sentences and paragraphs they make, are spaced with thin metal, called leads, or thin wooden pieces known as reglets. All spacing is called furniture and it comes in different sizes to fill different spaces. Within the chase the type matter is braced on all sides with metal or wooden furniture, and is locked into the chase with quoins. Old quoins were wooden wedges hammered into place with a wooden mallet. Modern quoins are slim expandable metal locks, turned with a key to tighten the type matter against the sides of the chase. Arranging and locking up of the type or illustrative matter in a chase is called imposing. A block is an illustration or drawing that has been engraved on a thin metal plate and mounted on a wood or metal base to match the height of type.
A block can also be an engraving directly on a wood block. Wood type letters are also wooden blocks with an engraved character.
A configuration of lines or pages of type and/or illustrative matter imposed and locked up in a chase and ready for printing is called a forme. When a forme has been locked into its chase it is ready for printing. The chase is placed on the bed of the printing press and the forme is inked, by hand or mechanical means. A sheet of paper is fed into the press and a platen or cylinder impresses the inked forme onto the paper. The paper is removed and the process repeated.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 26) 26 items
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Printing Press - Chandler & Price Treadle Clam Shell Platen, Old Style
This letterpress platen was manufactured by Chandler and price, Cleveland, Ohio, USA between 1903 and 1904. Letterpress is a term used to define the process of printing from a raised s ...
From: Boston, United States Images: 3 -
Printing Press - Clam Shell Platen, Treadle Operation, Golding Pearl Number 14
This is a letterpress clam shell platen printing press, manufactured by Golding & Co., USA in 1892. Letterpress is a term used to define the process of printing from a raised surface, b ...
Images: 6 -
No Image Available
Forme - Handset, Monotype, Early 20th Century
This is a forme, namely a metal frame filled with type for printing. The empty frame is known as the chase. The chase filled with a job for printing is known as the forme. Setting type ...
Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Forme - Franklyn, Typesetting, Early 20th Century
This is a forme, namely a metal frame filled with type for printing. The empty frame is known as the chase. The chase filled with a job for printing is known as the forme. Setting type ...
Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Chase - Typesetting, circa 1900s-1930s
A chase is a metal frame used in typesetting. The empty frame is known as the chase. The chase filled with a job for printing is known as the forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'c ...
Images: 0 -
Printing Press - Sherwin, Imperial Letterpress, 1855
This press was manufactured in 1855 by John G. Sherwin.
Images: 4 -
Printing Press - Golding, Clam Shell Platen, Pearl No 3, Unknown Date
This printing press was manufactured by Golding & Co, USA; the date of manufacture is unknown. On the press make-ready shows the last work on the press was an invitation with a 1988 dat ...
Images: 3 -
Printing Press - Connell, Vertical Cylinder, Unica, Letterpress, Unknown Date
This hand fed printing press was manufactured by W. J. Connell & Co., London, but the date of manufacture is unknown. This printing press has a vertical bed.
Images: 3 -
Printing Press - Clam Shell Platen, Treadle Operation, Johne Monopol, 1930s
This clam shell type platen printing press was manufactured by Johne Monopol but the date of manufacture is unknown. The machine was used by the Government Printing Office and there is ...
Images: 3 -
Printing Press- Clam Shell Platen, Treadle Operation, early 20th Century
Letterpress printing press of unknown manufacture and unknown date. The press was supplied for both a treadle and power operation. Styled a clam-shell press, paper was hand fed onto th ...
Images: 4 -
Printing Press - Chandler & Price Automatic Platen, New Series, Letterpress, late 1920s
Letterpress platen printing press manufactured by Chandler and Price, Cleveland, Ohio sometime between 1926 and 1930. It is a standard New Series Chandler & Price supplied with an autom ...
Images: 4 -
Printing Press - Adana, Clam Shell Platen, Unknown Date
This is a letterpress platen printing press manufactured by Adana of London but the date of manufacture is unknown. Letterpress is a term used to define the process of printing from a ...
Images: 3 -
Printing Press - Cottrell, Rotary, 1914
This a Rotary Magazine Printing Press, manufactured by C. B. Cottrell & Sons, New York, USA in 1914. It printed from stereotype plates. Letterpress is a term used to define the proces ...
Images: 1 -
Printing Press - Harris, Offset, Envelope, Unknown Date
This is a letterpress printing press used for printing envelopes, manufactured by the harris Automatic Press Company, the date of manufacture is unknown. Letterpress is a term used to ...
Images: 6 -
No Image Available
Quoin Key - Typesetting, Small, Late 19th Century
This key is used to lock small quoins into place when setting up type in a forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type is taken letter by letter and placed ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 0 -
Quoin Key - Typesetting, Large, Late 19th Century
This key is used to lock large quoins into place when setting up type in a forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type is taken letter by letter and placed ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 1 -
Quoin - Typesetting, Late 19th Century
Quoins are clamps used to lock type into place within a frame called a forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type is taken letter by letter and placed in ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 1 -
Quoin - Typesetting, Late 19th Century
Quoins are clamps used to lock type into place within a frame called a forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type is taken letter by letter and placed in ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 1 -
Wooden Spacer - Typesetting, Late 19th Century
Spacers (technical term is furniture) are used to ensure that type is correctly placed within a frame called a forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 4 -
Wooden Spacer - Typesetting, Late 19th Century
Spacers (technical term is furniture) are used to ensure that type is correctly placed within a frame called a chase. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 2 -
Wooden Spacer - Typesetting, Late 19th Century
Spacers (technical term is furniture) are used to ensure that type is correctly placed within a frame called a forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 4 -
Wooden Spacer - Typesetting, Late 19th Century
Spacers (technical term is furniture) are used to ensure that type is correctly placed within a frame called a forme. Setting type by hand is known as 'composing the type'. The type ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 4 -
Forme - Newspaper, Handset, Monotype, 1850-1900, Assembled 2008
This is a printing forme handset with monotype, using 19th century type and typesetting items. The type has been set up to reproduce the first page and other sections of the first prin ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 3 -
Printing Press - English Common Press, Fawkner, 1700s
The Melbourne Advertiser, the first Melbourne newspaper, was printed on this press in 1838. The publisher, John Pascoe Fawkner, was an entrepreneur taking advantage of opportunities p ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 3 -
Galley Tray - Typesetting, Early 20th Century
A Galley tray is a flat tray on which the compositor makes up the type into pages. It has sides that are lower than the height of the type and is open at one end.
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 1 -
Setting Stick - Typesetting, Late 19th Century
This stick is used for setting up lines of type before placing the line into the forme. A compositor selected type from a type case one letter at a time. The letters were placed in a ...
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 1
