05/05/21 Chris uses a Harrild and Sons treadle press. For years Chris Barker has been scouring the internet for individual printing blocks - missin
05/05/21 Chris uses a Harrild and Sons treadle press. For years Chris Barker has been scouring the internet for individual printing blocks - missing links in his collection of over 100,000 letters in all shapes, sizes and typefaces. Some are metal, some wood; all collected since he set up his artisan printing business with his wife, Hannah, eight years ago. ÒSadly antique shops often plundered complete sets, selling-off individual letters to people who liked the look of them. We have many incomplete sets, with missing letters known as orphans. IÕm always looking for them but havenÕt had much luck,Ó said Chris who runs the Smallprint Company in Derby city centre. A font of knowledge about all things typographical, Chris explained: ÒThe average age of our sets is probably more than a hundred years old. Initially we relied on ebay but started to get direct offers from retired printers wanting their sets to go to a good home. Recently we have museums donating to us too. ÒWe think the collection is priceless, given the age and history to it all we are just custodians. The important thing is to keep the fonts complete and to maintain the presses. ÒSo during lockdown I decided a high-tech printing solution might be the way to save our low-tech methods. I found a company who can make new carbon fibre blocks using a 3D printer. ÒSome of the first blocks we had made were display face ligature combinations - two letters together. They are Victorian style revivalist typefaces which are coming back into vogue. 3D printing dove-tails beautifully with old technology. ÒLetterpress is an enjoyable and rewarding print technique with an incredible 500 years of history behind it. The technique of using movable type was first introduced in the west in the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg. The process developed over the centuries, notably in the industrial revolution, and creating a revolution itself in mass distribution of the printed word. ÒWith the advent of modern offset
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Photo credit: © Rod Kirkpatrick / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: 3d, barker, chris, company, fsp, hannah, kirkpatrick, photography, press, print, printing, rkp, rod, small, stop
