The Petrarch Press

IN OCTOBER 2010 the Press acquired its own Monotype Thompson typecasting machine, along with dozens of series of matrices, the small recessed molds for the three-dimensional letterforms that are the essence of letterpress printing. Our Thompson caster will give us more control over the ‘fit’ and appearance of the types we use in our handmade books, and it opens up the possibility for designing our own typeface.   More…

LAST YEAR, THE PRESS RECEIVED a commission to produce a small letterpress edition of poetry: a personal volume of 50 sonnets for the author’s own distribution. The author had heard of the Press from a colleague who had seen our fine-press publications, and preferred the handmade quality of our letterpress editions over a plain paperback, print-on-demand booklet.   More…

Until recently, the Press has focussed mainly on printing with the iron handpress. Last year we installed new equipment that is enabling us to expand our in-house bookbinding capabilities. Tools and materials used by the Apollo Bindery, formerly operated by Peter Cohen, are gradually being integrated into the pressroom from their storage space.   More…