Fine press
Encyclopedia
Fine press printing
and publishing
comprises historical and contemporary printers and publishers publishing book
s and other printed matter of exceptional intrinsic quality and artistic taste, including both commercial and private press
es. Their dedication to fine printing distinguishes them from other small press
es. Fine press publications are often published in limited editions, that are swiftly bought up by book collectors
and libraries.
movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Englishman William Morris
wanted to harken back to a golden age of printing, printmaking, and publishing. One of the books they published was the Kelmscott Chaucer. Soon, fine presses began to spring up in the United States as well. The most prominent was the Roycroft Press. Los Angeles was a center of the fine press movement, particularly centered on the Ward Ritchie press
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
and publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
comprises historical and contemporary printers and publishers publishing book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s and other printed matter of exceptional intrinsic quality and artistic taste, including both commercial and private press
Private press
Private press is a term used in the field of book collecting to describe a printing press operated as an artistic or craft-based endeavor, rather than as a purely commercial venture...
es. Their dedication to fine printing distinguishes them from other small press
Small press
Small press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...
es. Fine press publications are often published in limited editions, that are swiftly bought up by book collectors
Book collecting
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given individual collector. The love of books is bibliophilia, and someone who loves to read, admire, and collect...
and libraries.
History of fine press
As part of the Art NouveauArt Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Englishman William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
wanted to harken back to a golden age of printing, printmaking, and publishing. One of the books they published was the Kelmscott Chaucer. Soon, fine presses began to spring up in the United States as well. The most prominent was the Roycroft Press. Los Angeles was a center of the fine press movement, particularly centered on the Ward Ritchie press
United States
- Alderbrink Press (1897 - 1928?)
- Blue Sky Press (1899–1906)
- Clerk's Press (1908–1919)
- Cranbrook Press (1900–1902)
- Elston Press (1900–1904)
- Marion Press (1896–1931)
- The Mosher Press (1891 - 1923+) Set up by Thomas Bird MosherThomas Bird MosherThomas Bird Mosher was an American publisher. He is notable for his contributions to the private press movement in the United States.-Early life:...
in 1891, in Portland, MainePortland, MainePortland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000... - Philosopher Press (1896–1904)
- Roycroft Press (1896 - 1915+) Set up by Elbert HubbardElbert HubbardElbert Green Hubbard was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Raised in Hudson, Illinois, he met early success as a traveling salesman with the Larkin soap company. Today Hubbard is mostly known as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York, an...
in 1895 - Trovillion Press at the Sign of the Silver HorseTrovillion PressViolet De Mars Trovillion and Hal W. Trovillion were publishers based in Herrin, Illinois who operated local newspapers and a private press known as Trovillion Private Press at the Sign of the Silver Horse or simply Trovillion Press.In 1904, after Hal left Indiana University, he moved to Herrin...
Set up by Hal W. Trovillion in Herrin, IllinoisHerrin, IllinoisHerrin is a city in Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,501 at the 2010 census. It is home to Country Musicstar David Lee Murphy, the hometown of baseball's Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman, and the hometown of San Diego State University men's basketball coach Steve...
in 1908 - Hammer Creek Press (1950–1962)
California presses
- Colt Press, San Francisco
- GrabhornGrabhorn InstituteThe Grabhorn Institute is a nonprofit organization formed in October 2000 for the purpose of preserving and continuing the use of one of the last integrated type foundry, letterpress printing, and bookbinding facilities in the fine press tradition, and operating it as a living museum and...
Press, San Francisco - John Henry Nash, San Francisco
- Plantin Press, Los Angeles. Founded by Saul and Lillian Marks, in 1931
- Saunders Studio Press, Claremont. Founded by Lynne and Ruth Thompson Saunders in 1927
- Ward Ritchie Press
- Arion PressArion PressThe Arion Press "is considered the nation's leading publisher of fine-press books," according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Founded in San Francisco in 1974, it has published 80-plus limited-edition books, most printed by letterpress, often illustrated with original prints by notable...
, San Francisco
United Kingdom
- Ashendene Press (1894–1935
- Daniel PressDaniel PressThe Daniel Press was a private press run by Charles Henry Olive Daniel and members of his family. Daniel began printing in 1845, when still a schoolboy, at Frome in Somerset, and continued to print books and ephemera well into the twentieth century, latterly at Oxford where he ultimately became...
Oxford (1874–1903) - Doves PressDoves PressDoves Press was a private press based in Hammersmith, London. It was founded by T. J. Cobden Sanderson before 1900 when he asked Sir Emery Walker to join him . Cobden Sanderson commissioned the press's type, which was drawn under Walker's supervision, and set up the Doves Bindery to bind the books...
(1900–1916) - Founded by T. J. Cobden Sanderson and Emery Walker - Eragny Press (1894–1914)
- Essex House Press (1898–1910)
- Folio SocietyFolio SocietyThe Folio Society is a book club based in London that produces new editions of classic books. Their books are notable for their high quality bindings and original illustrations...
- Founded by Charles Ede in 1947 - Golden Cockerel PressGolden Cockerel PressGolden Cockerel Press was a major English private press operating between 1920 and 1961.The Press was founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming...
- Founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920 - Gregynog Press (1922-) - Founded by Gwendoline and Margaret Davies
- Kelmscott Press (1891–1898) - Set up by William MorrisWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
in 1891 - Nonesuch PressNonesuch PressNonesuch Press was a private press founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell, his wife Vera Mendel, and David Garnett.-History:Nonesuch Press's first book, a volume of John Donne's Love Poems was issued in May 1923. In total, the press produced more than 140 books. The press was at its peak in...
- Founded in 1922 by Francis and Vera Meynell, and David Garnett - The Press of Gaetano PolidoriGaetano PolidoriGaetano Polidori was an Italian writer and scholar living in London. He was the son of Agostino Ansano Polidori , a physician and poet who lived and practised in his native Bientina, near Pisa, Tuscany....
- Strawberry Hill PressStrawberry Hill PressThe Strawberry Hill Press was established on 25 June 1757 at Strawberry Hill, by the house's owner, Horace Walpole. He called it the Officina Arbuteana, and many of the first editions of his own works were printed there. The first works printed at Strawberry Hill, on 8 August 1757, were two odes...
of Horace Walpole - Vale Press (1896–1905)
- Vincent Press
See also
- Arts and Crafts movementArts and Crafts movementArts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
- PrintingPrintingPrinting is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
- Private pressPrivate pressPrivate press is a term used in the field of book collecting to describe a printing press operated as an artistic or craft-based endeavor, rather than as a purely commercial venture...
- PublishingPublishingPublishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
- Small pressSmall pressSmall press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...
/Independent press