First things first, what is letterpress printing?
Wikipedia has a short introduction to the history & mechanics of letterpress printing that you
might find helpful if you’re not familiar with the technique.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterpress
Want to know what the fuss is all about? See some of the great work that various artists have posted on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=letterpress
This YouTube video is a nice introduction to letterpress printing in general as told through a story about Firefly Press.
I am still in awe of the skill that longtime printers like John Kristensen have.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv69kB_e9KY&feature=related
If you want to start letterpress printing…
Five Roses Press has a great (and exhaustive) introduction to letterpress printing that is especially
helpful for folks starting up. There’s a great quiz on this page to help you decide on what kind of press
to get and descriptions of the different kinds of presses available. They also have many great links that you’ll find useful.
http://www.fiveroses.org/intro
A British, but still pertinent, beginner’s letterpress resource.
http://www.britishletterpress.co.uk/how-to-guides
Briar Press has a museum with profiles of many models of presses, forums to ask questions & communicate with other printers,
an area where you can post a want ad or respond to someone else’s listing, some nice public domain images, and much more.
http://www.briarpress.org
During my search, I contacted the following vendors looking for a letterpress. I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for,
but they may have something for you. Responses were fast & helpful.
Letterpress Things http://www.letterpressthings.com
Don Black Linecasting http://www.donblack.ca
I ended up buying my letterpress on E-bay. E-bay also has a lot of great letterpress supplies,
including interesting fonts in both lead & wood and old printing blocks.
It’s a lot of fun to see the variety of vintage materials available.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle= letterpress&category0=
About the Golding Pearl letterpress
Three Red Hens has a Golding Pearl Improved Press No. 11 with a chase size (or imprintable area) of 7x11”.
This website has some information about all the different Golding presses.
http://www.greenapple.com/~aapa/golding/
This YouTube shows a Golding Pearl Improved Press in action. Three Red Hens is not lucky enough to have a motor,
so the motion of the press is kept going by pumping a treadle. As the rollers come down across the ink plate and then
across what would be the type or image, this is the time you’d stick the paper in. The clamshell action brings the paper against the type.
As it opens again you pull out the paper and the process starts all over again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUR8On7IgqI
Some collections of inspiring work: letterpress, design, typography & more
I love letterpress
Great letterpress work from many different artists.
http://www.iloveletterpress.com/
Adventures in Letterpress
One woman’s adventures in letterpress printing.
http://adventuresinletterpress.blogspot.com/
Indie Pretty Perfect
This blog has interviews & images from artists from all over the world.
http://indieprettyperfect.blogspot.com/
Design Sponge
A website dedicated to home & product design that’s updated daily. Plenty of mind candy here.
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
Poppy Talk
A Canadian blog that is handmade heaven.
http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/
Occupied While Lit
The link below is for letterpress-related entries only, but you’ll find plenty of other inspiring items here as well.
http://kumaridesign.typepad.com/occupiedwhilelit/letterpress_deliciousness/index.html
I love typography
Everything typography! Too bad all of the great new fonts detailed here are not available for the letterpress.
http://ilovetypography.com/