ATTN: letterpressers who want to talk about letterpressing (1 Viewer)

yeah The Printer (as she is known) is one of those people who knows (or seems to know) EVERYTHING about books, printing, presses, book-making, just everything. i was showing her bill's stuff and she was really impressed. she also likes bukowski. so yes, a good teacher.
 
god it took me about an hour to set ONE line of type yesterday. it did not help that most of the letters in the type case were in completely the wrong place.
 
Like many (I imagine), I'd love to have a press and make beautiful pages.

But, realistically, I'm very unlikely to have room, funds, time, patience anytime in the next er... 30 years...

It really is an art. I salute you Rubyred for learning and also folks like 'our' Bill who seem to have the super-human abilities to carry on the tradition in this horrible ink-jet and hypertext age.

Great photos of amazing old presses. Thanks
 
it is extremely addictive. the first time i actually printed something, it just felt... right. so now i guess i have to resign myself to a life of being poor but happy.
 
oh man, my very own press, and a huge collection of types... and stacks of beautiful paper... one of these days...
 
Rubyred,
When you come to the States, you and your significant other can swing by Delaware and spend the weekend printing! We have room and love to have guests. You just have to put up with my wife and kids (actually I'm the most unpleasant person in the house!)

I just last weekend had a guest here from San Francisco. In 4 days, we printed a previously unpublished letter from Ginsberg to Kerouac. The letter is 5 pages and is 1955, pre-howl. Also, we printed a poem by Leonard Cohen (which we believe may be his first broadside?). Both are official & authorized releases. I was a printer, not the publisher. The Ginsberg piece is limited to 300 handsewn in wraps, 50 signed in wraps and 26 hand bound hardcovers! I just got back from Newark, DE where we were finishing sewing the hardbacks over pizza and beer.

I know that this is a Bukowski forum and Ginsburg is not on the top of everyones list, but for a printer, getting to print something like these two projects is really a special honor.

Rubyred - Get a press! You will not regret it. Looking at pieces printed this way gives me more satisfaction than any beautiful mass produced book out there. Join the ranks of those of us that refuse to admit that we are not still in the nineteenth century.

Bill
 
bill, thank you so much for the offer - i fully intend to take you up on it!

the ginsberg project sounds AMAZING - i know what you mean, there's something about a book created by hand that just has very special beauty about it. i'm planning on trying to get some apprentice work with wai-te-ata press once i'm finished with school, and when i come to oakland i'm gonna sign up for classes at the SFCB. i'd really like to find a letterpress printer in the bay area who would be happy to take me on as a part-time apprentice, so i'll need to get to work on that. i'd LOVE to have my own press - but i need to do some research on the smallest and cheapest presses first, since i really know nothing about it.

also: mr cc at the GPP has asked me to send proofs and budgets once my project is done, because they will consider funding me to actually do the postcards FOR REALZ!

and also: jordan has a beautiful letterpress print of a jim woodring image from
http://www.pressureprinting.com/announce.html
which he should post a photo of here.
 
Rubyred said:
bill, thank you so much for the offer - i fully intend to take you up on it!

the ginsberg project sounds AMAZING - i know what you mean, there's something about a book created by hand that just has very special beauty about it. i'm planning on trying to get some apprentice work with wai-te-ata press once i'm finished with school, and when i come to oakland i'm gonna sign up for classes at the SFCB. i'd really like to find a letterpress printer in the bay area who would be happy to take me on as a part-time apprentice, so i'll need to get to work on that. i'd LOVE to have my own press - but i need to do some research on the smallest and most affordable presses first, since i really know nothing about it.

also: mr cc at the GPP has asked me to send proofs and budgets once my project is done, because they will consider funding me to actually do the postcards FOR REALZ!

and also: jordan has a beautiful letterpress print of a jim woodring image from
http://www.pressureprinting.com/announce.html
which he should post a photo of here.
Click to expand...

Ha ! Look at me - I'm an editor ! ;)
 
Loujon book?

What the deal with the book on the Loujon press that was mentioned earlier. I know they printed It Catches My Heart In Its Hands (I got to see an original copy eeeeeeeeeee!) but I don't know much else about the press.
 
The book is a great read, and there's also a documentary film that is ostensibly about LouJon, but mainly about Gypsy Lou. Still, a really good film. I would recommend both.

If you search "LouJon" or "Webb" here in the forum you will find a lot of discussion about the Webbs and their publishing adventures.
 
Rubyred said:
i'd really like to find a letterpress printer in the bay area who would be happy to take me on as a part-time apprentice, so i'll need to get to work on that.

and also: jordan has a beautiful letterpress print of a jim woodring image from
http://www.pressureprinting.com/announce.html
which he should post a photo of here.
Click to expand...

number6horse said:
Ha ! Look at me - I'm an editor ! ;)
Click to expand...

Three things.

First.

There used to be a place called Apprentice Alliance in San Francisco.
Lou Phillips ran it. I believe Lou has gone (she's dead), although I would be
happy to be wrong about that.

Apprentice Alliance
151 Potrero Ave,
San Francisco, CA 94103-4812
Phone: (415) 863-8661

I know you have your own sources, I just want to throw that out there.
Sort of as a way of saying I support what you are about, and maybe it
might directly assist you.

Also, what you wrote about the GPP is fantastic. Best wishes with that.

Second.
Jason's Work. EDIT: jordan's

H E R E is it?

Fucking great. Just Brilliant. The whole site kept me for hours.
Sometimes quality falls into your hands, and there isn't anything to do but
stand there slack jawed in awe, and wonder why the whole world can't be just
like this. This was one of those times.

There was a third thing. . .

Can't remember. Hopefully this is sufficient.
All the best.

- -
Okay,
Father Luke
 
thanks very much for that, father luke; i'll look into it.

jason's work? pressure printing is run by a guy called brad keech, i think.
 
Yes... Brad Keech is Pressure Printing (and he does absolutely beautiful work). Jason's (assuming we are talking about the same Jason) press is here.
 
glad you found your calling, rubyred.
you're one of the lucky ones. and it's well deserved.
 
that pressure printing stuff is expensive, but man is it nice. i never though i'd pay $75 for a small print (it's like a large postcard), but the quality is through the roof; plus, woodring is one of my favorite artists, so it wasn't that much of a stretch. once rubyred gets here and we start printing and learning how to make books, we're going to start a small press with the goal of publishing poets who have never been published on their own (eg: outside of little mags). we will probably lose a lot of money, but it will be worth it.
 
You will do great and as long as you love it and it shows, you will not lose a penny and will probably make a couple bucks. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help once you get started. I'll be in Berkley in May for a few days. Maybe we'll see you guys...

Bill
 
so would jim, i think. i'm really, really hoping that i'll be there by may, but there's been some problems trying to apply for a visa. i originally planned to be there in feb, but that's not gonna happen.

keep your fingers crossed for me, guys.
 
the letterpress print project i'm working on at the moment is this:
-design a postcard for a real or invented client and audience.
-choose one of the standard postcard sizes
-your choice of paper
-limited to black ink
-no letterpress printed images, no more than 15 words
-overview of concept/design/distribution; budget; materials etc.

so i convinced my group to go with the GPP as our hypothetical client, with the idea being that our postcards would be distributed in the same way as the GPP broadsides, but they would feature a line from a local unpublished poet (to promote and antipodean outpost for the GPP).

design features:
-red card an almost identical match to the dust band on the GPP reader
-use of garamond type, same as the text body of the GPP reader.

so here are a few photos from the first stage of actual production. we printed the cards today; they're nothing fancy and they still need to be trimmed to size and have a rice paper overlay riveted on, but i'm really happy with how they turned out. we had a few issues with the type not sitting in the chase properly but it all worked out in the end:

IMG_1162.jpg IMG_1166.jpg IMG_1191.jpg IMG_1192.jpg IMG_1206.jpg
 
i'll probably have about 4 or 5 extras; one is going to the GPP, one is being sent to seattle, so that leaves a couple. you want me to post you one, father luke?
 
(there is supposed to be a comma after 'dog' but we didn't notice till all the type was set in the chase, and we didn't have time to put it in)
 
...okay, make that ONE left.

(PM me your address, steve)

i'm incredibly flattered that people actually want one of these postcards. i hope you guys are going to be my best customers when i start doing this for real...
 
aww... you guys...

PMs have been received: bill, steve, and father luke are all getting one. i may be able to get a few more, since there were a bunch that weren't quite up to scratch (tiniest bit of ink caking in the italic 'n'). so if anyone else wants one, sign up here and i'll do my best.

(steve: don't worry about the postage. it's a minimal cost to me, and i'm just happy that people actually want these)
 

Similar threads

bluebottle
letterpress collaboration
Replies
7
Views
2K
Hosh
Hosh
nymark
Letterpress Printing
Replies
15
Views
3K
mjp
mjp
Rekrab
  • Locked
rubber letterpress teaser
2
Replies
77
Views
10K
mjp
mjp
Hosh
Someone should letterpress this...
Replies
15
Views
3K
Rekrab
Rekrab
bospress.net
Calling all letterpress printers
Replies
2
Views
1K
bospress.net
bospress.net

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top