'ARTISTS' typographical poster

Here is an image of my new 'Artists' typographical poster, similar in style to the 'Political Philosophers' poster I printed recently (see previous post). This is the second in this series of limited edition posters.

Political Philosophers Poster

This is a proof of a new 'Political Philosophers' poster I've been printing yesterday and today on the common press. The type ranges from 36 point metal type (smallest) up to 38 Line Pica (over 6 inches) wood letter (largest). There is a free poster prize for identifying the (Russian?) philosopher Yelnatsniw!

In the production copies, Wollstonecraft has two 'L's, and there a few other changes. Hegel appears, inverted above Marx (any guesses why?). Hobbes has disappeared, and Lilburne has been added. I would have added more and more names, but ran out of space. I could fit more in (Plato, Aristotle, de Beauvoir . . . ) but would have to use smaller and smaller type, which defeats the object. Less is more?

I hope to produce more posters in this series - Artist, Poets, Printers, etc.

Pages Exhibition - Gutenberg to Ernst and more

For our next exhibition we have lots of interesting pages from books from the 15th century to contemporary Artists Books; - a facsimile page from the Gutenberg 1455 Bible (signed by Stephen Fry – made for his TV program about the Gutenberg press made by Alan May – the same person who made our Common Press), -one from the Nuremberg Chronicle (genuine 1493);some from various productions by the St Dominic's Press, at Ditchling,; surrealist pages from Une Semaine de Bonte by Max Ernst, which was sponsored by Roland Penrose who lived near Lewes in Chiddingly; various title pages from the 16th to the 19th century, and examples from contemporary Artists Books, including some Trant/Chasseaud golden oldies; some are typographical examples, some have images:any of them could be a talking point framed on the wall.

We can assure everyone no books were harmed in the making of this event!

The exhibition runs from April 27th until May 29th, closed Sundays and Mondays; at the same time we will have our usual changing selection of books, prints, cards, posters, magazines and printed ephemera.

Caslon Type Crisis, and some Black Letter types

I decided to set the black letter types held at The Tom Paine Printing Press, as this would help me to read them (particularly the caps) better. The specimen above shows the range from 48 point to 6 point. The first three are very old founders' type from The Caxton Press, and the descriptions I have given are those printed on the old labels on the case.

CASLON OLD FACE SWASH ITALICS & QUAINT CHARACTERS

Help! I heard today from the USA that the new owners of the Dale Guild Type Foundry have decided to close down some or all of their type-casting operations, and have dumped some 1,000 lbs weight of Caslon 14 point Italic Swash and Quaint characters. I'll have to check this information, but I was relying on the Dale Guild to supply The Tom Paine Printing Press with these swash and quaint characters. Does anyone out there in the typosphere know where I can obtain these rare Caslon founts? I'm looking for all sizes from 12 point to 72 point, but particularly 14pt, 18pt and 24pt.

A Page of Typographical Ornaments, etc

I set and printed this sheet to see what I could do with all my odd letters and ornaments. It's still developing . . . I like experimenting with inking-up individual characters and lines in different colours.

Creative Typography

See my Peter Chasseaud - Artist & Writer blog (http://peterchasseaud.blogspot.com) for more about these two images of my current work at the Press - a foot-square Valentine, and a version of Moxon's 17th Century capital 'E'.

Typography Books, Artists' Books, Printing, Artists' Prints

The Tom Paine Printing Press and Press Gallery is now building up a range of new and secondhand books on typography and graphic design, private presses, fine press books, artists' books, and artists' prints as well as letterpress and line-block material printed by Peter Chasseaud on the wooden hand-press (Common Press). I've just printed a valentine card about a foot square, using wood type on Khadi hand-made paper.

We will also be stocking books on printing history, methods and processes - including letterpress, lithography, etching, relief printing, etc.