Printing with the Handpress; Herewith a Definitive Manual by Lewis M. Allen to Encourage Fine Printing through Hand-craftsmanship
Kentfield, California: The Allen Press, 1969.
Limited Edition. Hardcover.
Allen Press Book #34. Limited Edition of one hundred forty copies.
The type face is Romanee, designed by Jan Van Krimpen for Joh. Enschede en Zonen, and was set by hand. The paper is from the Wookey Hole Mill in England, and was handmade to our specifications with the watermark of The Allen Press; it was printed damp on a Columbian handpress, made in London, 1846; platen size, 18 by 24 inches. The illustrations are by Victor A. Seward. Mallette Dean engraved on wood the pressmark which appears on the final page, and also he engraved the hand decoration – based on a 15th century woodcut. The ink is Mandlik Special Black 42625 L’press. The second and third colors were printed simultaneously with the black. The binding cloth is pure Irish linen. Produced by Lewis & Dorothy Allen. Introduced with a poem by William Everson (Brother Antoninus) entitled Printing with the Handpress.
“One of the supreme pleasures available to man is intelligence - discipline - knowledge guiding the hand to create beautiful as well as intellectually desirable objects, and this pleasure is uniquely inherent in the handpress.”
The purpose of the volume was four-fold: to enable handpress owner’s to produce high-quality printing; encourage those with increasing leisure time to enjoy the unique rewards of handpress printing as a serious avocation; to stimulate a renaissance in fine printing through hand-craftsmanship; and to acquaint collectors with methods involved in a hand produced book. Included in the text are brief digressions recounting some of the Allen’s personal experiences, principally adventures during their two years of handpress printing in France.
Item #9025838-1/4 x 12-1/8", brown Irish linen over boards with red spine titles and hand decoration front board, blue endpapers, 75pp, index, title in blue, red and black, 'hand' ornaments in blue, chapters begun in red throughout the text, illustrated.
Small stain fore-edge of front free endpaper, else very fine in original clear acetate dust wrapper.
Price: $1,500.00