Why you should join the Letterforms Study Group at the Tipoteca 2025—Reason no. 5: Letterpress Printing with an Iron Hand Press

Gloria Kondrup adjusting type in the bed of the cylinder press during Legacy of Letters 2017. Photograph by Paul Shaw.

Susan Fitzgerald operating the cylinder press at the Tipoteca during Legacy of Letters 2023. Photograph by Paul Shaw.

Janine Wong examining a printed sheet from the cylinder press during Legacy of Letters Tipo Cibo Vino 2022. Photograph by Paul Shaw.

Cylinder Press

The revival of letterpress printing over the course of the past forty years has been made possible by the embrace of cylinder presses such as Vandercook proof presses. Cylinder presses are less demanding physically and faster than hand presses. The Tipoteca has three European brand cylinder presses. Legacy of Letters has used all of them since 2010. And they will be used as part of the Letterforms Study Group at the Tipoteca 2025—but only for printing ancillary components of the type specimen project such as captions or the colophon.

John Rissieuw working at one of the two Tipoteca hand presses during Legacy of Letters 2015. Photograph by Paul Shaw.

Clint Harvey assembling wood type in the bed of the hand press during Legacy of Letters 2015. Photograph by Paul Shaw.

Ray Tomasso pulling the bar of the hand press during Legacy of Letters 2017. Photograph by Paul Shaw.

Hand Press

A hand press is a platen press in which power is supplied manually via a combination bar and screw mechanism. It is the kind of press used by Johann Gutenberg and all other European printers prior to the 19th century. The private press movement sparked by William Morris and his Kelmscott Press in the 1890s emphasized a return to hand presses as a reaction against the mechanization of printing in the 19th century. The hand press, whether the wooden common press of Gutenberg, Franklin and Bodoni or the iron hand press of Morris, requires more physical strength than a cylinder press.

The Tipoteca has two iron hand presses. Legacy of Letters has used both of them since 2015 to supplement the cylinder presses during workshops. However, for the Letterforms Study Group at the Tipoteca in 2025 their hand presses will be the primary means of printing. The use of the hand presses is not ideologically motivated, but a practical solution to the fact that the height of the script wood type* that the workshop will be investigating is too high for use with a cylinder press. It can only be printed on a hand press with an adjustable bed.

The Letterforms Study Group at the Tipoteca 2025 will be an opportunity to learn how to print with a hand press: adjusting the paper on the tympan, building up the packing under the type, hand inking the type, exerting sufficient power in pulling the bar, and more. Printing will be supervised by Lucio Passerini, who has worked with iron hand presses for several decades. (The press in his studio Il Buon Tempo is on loan from the Tipoteca.)

Lucio Passerini in his studio Il Buon Tempo at Casteggio. The iron hand press at right is on loan from the Tipoteca. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2023.

Stefano Baldassari and Lucio Passerini checking the print on the tympan during Legacy of Letters 2923.  Photograph by Paul Shaw.

Letterforms Study Group at the Tipoteca 2025
The workshop will take place from June 8 to June 15, 2025. Participation in the workshop is limited to eight people. To secure a place a non-refundable deposit of $300 is required. Please make payment to paulshaw@nyc.rr.com via PayPal. If this is not possible, please contact Paul Shaw at paulshaw@nyc.rr.com for alternative methods of payment. A downloadable registration form is available below.

Tipoteca 2025 registration form

* All of the wood type founts at the Tipoteca vary in height, depending on the manufacturer since there was no standardization in Italy in the 19th century.

Note: As of January 24, 2025 Richard Ardagh will be the printer for the Letterforms Study Group at the Tipoteca 2025.