Letterforms Study Group: Corsivo Inglese in Caratteri—6. Cornuda

June 14, 2025 | Day 6—Tipoteca

Letterpress workshop with Richard Ardagh

This was the last day of the workshop. It was originally scheduled to be a day devoted solely to binding the specimen book, but pages that had been printed on the hand presses the day before were not yet dry, and there were still pages to be printed on the cylinder presses. So, the day became a mix of activities: composing type, printing, dissing type, cleaning up—and binding.

Earl Kallemeyn and Richard Ardagh removing a print of the second page of the Stocchetti 004–006 character set from the tympan. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Earl and Josse’s second page—showing half of the Stocchetti 004–006 character set—still needed to be printed. Fortunately, we were able to do all of the remaining printing on the cylinder presses—and for the first few hours of the morning we had the assistance of Lucio Botteselle. The title page typography was fine-tuned by him, Riccardo, Earl, and myself. Once Lucio left, Riccardo and Erin completed the printing that he had begun. Earl and Josse printed the section titles.

Lucio Botteselle adjusting the type for the introduction. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Riccardo De Franceschi fine-tuning the title page typography. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Once Richard had completed printing Earl and Josse’s second page, he gave a short talk on how he had built up the make-ready for the Stocchetti 004–006 type. It was unfortunate that we had not been able to see the process from beginning to end instead of in reverse, but it was still very instructive. It showed why, advised by Sandro Berra, I had chosen Richard as the master printer for this workshop—and why Silvio Antiga entrusted him alone with the care of this irreplaceable wood type.

Richard Ardagh showing the various pieces of paper he used in the make-ready for the Stocchetti 004–006 type. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Detail of the make-ready for the Stocchetti 004–006 type using several layers of paper. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

After lunch we finally began the binding session. Prior to the workshop Richard had made a test binding of the specimen book and also prepared a set of instructions on how to do the Japanese-style binding he had chosen. With the latter in hand, the pressure to bind the full edition of the specimen book was relieved. Our goal was to collate all of the sheets and have at least one copy bound so that we could watch Richard carry out each stage of the binding process. That we achieved.

Richard Ardagh preparing to explain the binding structure for the specimen book. Photograph by Riccardo De Franceschi 2025.

Richard Ardagh explaining how to trim the printed sheets for binding. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Richard Ardagh showing how to clamp the sheets before sewing. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Participants posing with pre-collated sheets. From left to right: Richard Ardagh, Janet Elliott, Gabriella Miyares, Erin Roche, Riccardo De Franceschi, Earl Kallemeyn, Josse Pickard, and Henri-Paul Bronsard. Not shown Yasmin Rodriguez. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Collating the sheets. From left to right: Henri-Paul Bronsard, Josse Pickard, Earl Kallemeyn, and Riccardo De Franceschi. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Stack of collated (but unbound) specimen books. Photograph by Richard Ardagh 2025.

At the end of the day we celebrated the collation of the specimen books and the end of the workshop with a farewell dinner at Osteria Santa Margherita in Ciano del Montello where we had the restaurant entirely to ourselves

Farewell dinner at Osteria Santa Margherita in Ciano del Montello. Visible are Julian, Breanna Parolini, Dana Kadison, Earl Kallemeyn, Henri-Paul Bronsard, Gabriella Miyares, and Riccardo De Franceschi. Out of camera range are Josse Pickard, Erin Roche, Yasmin Rodriguez, Richard Ardagh, and Paul Shaw. Photograph by Paul Shaw 2025.

Letterforms Study Group: Corsivo Inglese in Caratteri—The Specimen Book