Old, Slow, and Thriving: The letterpress scene in Cleveland

Distribution rollers on a Vandercook Proofing Press

Letterpress printing is an obsolete, painstakingly slow, cumbersome technology. While moveable type once revolutionized the spread of the written word, offset lithography has been the dominant print technology since the middle of the twentieth century. But letterpress has become extremely popular in recent years. While Cleveland was not an early center for the letterpress revival–like the San Francisco Bay area or Minneapolis–the letterpress scene here is thriving. It may have something to do with our industrial heritage–abundant space to set up studios, and a wealth of old supplies that became available as old shops went out of business.

Most old presses were scrapped, given away, or sold cheaply at auction as the print shops closed. Some, fortunately, ended up in the hands of hobby printers, collectors, poets, and artists–including those at Zygote Press and the Morgan Conservatory, both of which anchor the active letterpress scene in Cleveland.

In addition to those shops, graphic design and art students take letterpress classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art and at Kent State University. And Oberlin College has recently set up a letterpress studio in its main library, overseen by the head of Special Collections.

This newfound popularity for something so old and slow might seem surprising – at least until you walk into the letterpress studio at Zygote Press, the cooperative printmaking center on E. 30th Street in Cleveland.

The studio has grown dramatically over the past six or so years as donations have flooded in and more people have learned to operate the presses. Visitors are surrounded by signs of a thriving community: Proofs and prints are tacked up all over the walls. Since Zygote is used by artists adept in many different media, letterpress printing is often combined with silk screen, monoprinting, wood engraving, or multi colored block prints. The addition of a new piece of equipment–a photopolymer plate maker–enables artists to turn digital files into plastic plates that can be printed on the old presses, a freedom that clearly contributes to the renewed interest in letterpress. For example, artists Corrie Slawson and Elizabeth Emery recently used polymer plates to print Lilly Ledbetter, 77-cent dollar bills for a recent performance in conjunction with the Sculpture Center. They even took the show on the road, building a cart and attaching to it a small table top press, which they pushed around University Circle, handing out 77-cent dollars as they went.

Zygote has three sturdy presses, and several old cabinets full of wood and metal type, all donated after their commercial life came to an end. The presses are from the 1940s and 1950s, and some of the type is even older.

Two of the presses are Vandercooks, prized for their durability, craftsmanship, and ease of use. Zygote’s third press was manufactured by Cleveland’s own Chandler and Price Company. It is a platen press, originally designed for speedily printing small jobs. The Cleveland company did well, and by the1930s, 90 percent of all platen presses in use where C&Ps. 

The typefaces available in the Zygote studio, as in most shops, are varied, but extremely limited by comparison to what’s available even in the most basic computer design programs. Some, like Garamond are classically elegant and were originally designed in the 16th century. Some are quirky with names like Brody (a typeface with thick and thin strokes as if produced by a sign painter) and Airport Tourist (a blocky san serif). They were created in the 20th century to meet the needs of advertising. Each face in each point size has its own drawer. Enormous wood type, at one time used for poster printing, is stored in plastic tubs.

To set and print moveable type, you need to learn about composing sticks and leading, reglets and quoins, job cases and dingbats. Part of the beauty of letterpress is absorbing the vocabulary of a very old craft. Today’s printers also revel in the physical nature of the work: handling type, mixing ink, cranking presses, and feeding sheets of paper beneath grippers or gauge pins.

The equipment is treated with care and respect, but it is often used for processes never envisioned by the original designers. The two Vandercooks are proof presses, and their purpose was to check a print job before it was run on the large machines of the industrial revolution. Now the Vandercooks are used to print finished work, including small editions of everything from posters to cards to artists books. Even less conventionally, artists are using the presses to print anything flat that has a shape or texture–say a coin, a ruler, or a small gear. Or, in a process described as “pressure printing” the impression of thin, flexible objects (fabric, string, paper stencils, pressed plant material) can be transferred to paper via the letterpress machines.

Both Zygote and the Morgan offer workshops and are willing to offer individualized instruction depending on artist availability. If the idea appeals to you, however, beware: letterpress printing can be demanding, slow, and highly addictive.

The author would like to gratefully acknowledge conversations with local letterpress printers Mason Milani, Terry Michael, Gene Pawlowski, and Bob Kelemen.

Wendy Partridge is the coordinator of the letterpress studio at Zygote Press.

 

For a window on the Northeast Ohio letterpress scene, check out these and other exhibits that are part of Octavofest, a celebration of the book arts organized by the Morgan Conservatory, Artist Books Cleveland, The Cleveland Public Library, and the Ohio Center for the Book.

 

Altered Octavos Opening Reception: 6 – 8 pm Thursday, Oct. 3

Loganberry Books, 13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120

Exhibit through Oct. 31.

Local Author Fair 1 – 4 pm Saturday, October 5

Cuyahoga County Public Library Mayfield Branch, 500 SOM Center Road, Mayfield. 440.473.0350

Make It Last! Working Properties of Paper and Adhesives for Artists: 6 – 8:30 pm Tuesday, October 8:

Jamye Jamison, ICA – Art Conservation. Cost: $25. Register:  216.658.8700

Art Books Cleveland Travel Journal Project lecture and exhibit: 6:30 – 9 pm Wednesday, Oct. 16

The Cleveland Museum of Art Art- North Court Lobby in the Ames Family Atrium.

Free. Register: 1-800-CMA-0033

Portage Periplus Journal unveiling: 7 – 9 pm Wednesday, Oct. 23

Roy R. LarickBluestone Heights; William C. BarrowCleveland Memory Project; Tom BalboMorgan Conservatory.

Morgan Conservatory, 1754 E 47th St, Cleveland, OH 44103

For a complete list of Octavofest events, go to engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/octavofest/.

 

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