In 1891 a simple iron printing press was made in London and sold to William Morris, the founder of the Arts & Crafts movement. Whereupon this press was employed to produce the legendary book commonly known as The Kelmscott Chaucer, completed in 1896. For over a century since, admirers have sought to pull a print on this press—each perhaps striving to absorb the greatness of its successive proprietors, many of them luminaries in the typographic arts, including the American type designer Frederic W. Goudy.
This Kelmscott handpress is now held at the Cary Collection in Rochester, New York, where it is the centerpiece of a dynamic program for teaching book arts history and practice. Please join us on March 10 at 3:00 pm to hear Amelia Fontanel, associate curator of the Cary's graphic arts collection, as she describes the press’s impressive provenance and detailed restoration. Then join us afterwards at 4:00 pm for keepsake printing at the Yale University Library Bibliographical Press, located in Sterling Memorial Library. The talk will be live streamed here.
Image: Courtesy of the Cary Graphic Arts Collection.