Fine-press printer and type designer Russell Maret recently compiled a series of lectures and essays on type and fine-press printing into his latest publication Visionaries & Fanatics and Other Essays on Type Design, Technology, and the Private Press, designed by Maret, printed by Sheridan Books, and published in 2021 by Cathy Baker’s The Legacy Press in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Maret spends a considerable amount of space comparing and contrasting metal type and digital letterforms (which he calls digigraphic). The implications of these two graphic presentations of letterforms seems to fascinate him, as it should. Maret writes:
Technologically, I began printing and designing type during a period of great, rapid change. Digital technology not only provided a new means for designing type, it offered the first viable alternative for the typographic book in five-hundred years. Digital technology was not only changing the way text was being transmitted, it was changing the artifactual meaning of the book.
Shown above, after the dust cover and title page of the book, are progressive engravings for the ‘ct’ ligature punch in the Hungry Dutch typeface designed by Maret, and examples of Just van Rossum’s and Erik van Blokland’s digigraphic typeface Beowulf (1990) where “Each character has multiple potential outlines from which it can be composed. Every instance of a character is unique, but the characters remain stylistically consistent with their neighbors.”
Finally, we hold one of 250 copies of the hardcover edition that includes Maret’s letterpress-printed specimen sheet of metal and digital typefaces and ornaments of his own design. We display the specimens here along with their maps identifying each design.
View our other posts on the works of Russell Maret.
On New Year’s Eve, Ann Arbor wood engraver, letterpress printer, and founder of the Wood Engravers Network (WEN) Jim Horton sent us his new book on Commercial Wood Engraving in the 20th Century published in 2020 by The Legacy Press in Ann Arbor (what a wonderful way to start the New Year!). Horton has been a practicing wood engraver for over 40 years, and as he points out in his book, was drawn to the medium by his mentor David M. Sander (1923-1999) of the Sander Engraving Co. (1900-1971, Chicago), to whom this book is dedicated.
The book includes chapters on the history, tools, and processes of commercial wood engraving, and includes a preface by Judith Jaidinger, who Horton identifies as “the last commercial wood engraver.” The last two chapters offer a history of the Sander Engraving Company and a memoir of David Sander. The bulk of the book, however, consists of 114 luscious plates of product proofs from the Sander company, from which we offer a few examples here. We tend to be drawn to machine parts, and our favorites are the Threaded Screws! And just look at the beautiful rubbery sheen on those tires! Click on the images for greater detail. Wood engraving is effing awesome!
Other images shown here include photos of Horton’s studio. One of the tools Horton discusses is the ruling machine, which can make incredibly fine and detailed cuts. You can see a portion of one just off to the left in the photo of Horton’s engraving work space. When our department head Max visited Horton’s studio a few year’s ago, he says “there must have been about a dozen or so ruling machines in every corner of the studio; I’ve never seen so many in one place.” Horton has since donated a few of these machines for display and use at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, where WEN maintains its headquarters.
Of this book, Cathy Baker, proprietor of The Legacy Press which publishes books on printing, paper, and bookbinding, writes: “Normally I don’t make personal comments, but I want to acknowledge that this is one of the most delightful books that I have published. Wood engraving is fascinating, and I only regret that I have not cut more blocks than I have. . . . I know you’ll find Jim’s story of David Sander and the Sander Engraving Co. as enjoyable and informative as I have.”
As an aside, The Legacy Press will soon be publishing Peter and Donna Thomas Bibliography, 1974-2020, which was compiled, written, and the photographs produced by the Thomases and the staff here at Special Collections, UW-Milwaukee. You can get a sneak peak at the bibliography by visiting our online exhibition on Peter and Donna Thomas.
