QUALITY LITHOGRAPHIC and LETTERPRESS INVITATION PRINTING - DIESTAMPING and ENGRAVED STATIONERY - THERMOGRAPHY and FOIL BLOCKING
SUPPLIERS TO HM FORCES, DIPLOMATS and HOLDERS OF A ROYAL WARRANT
RECOMMENDED BY DEBRETT'S GUIDE TO CORRESPONDENCE

A Few Photographs of Letterpress Interest

Albion Press This lovely old Albion was in Tim Honnor's Printing Museum, now sadly shut. Press now in Chicago. Note wooden type rack and wooden poster letter	Cases of ornaments and rules etc. Printers' ornaments and rules were always housed in lovely mahogony boxes.	Two cases of type in the "upper' and 'lower' position Both cases are "double cases" but of slightly different layout.
Ornaments, rules and setting measures. All housed in beautiful mahogony boxes.	Wooden Type This font is cut on a slight curve and I have yet to discover why, or on what press it was used.	Chase with polymer block Chase, resting on a stone, locked up with magnetic base and steel backed polymer block. Note quoin key, furniture and quoins.
Letterpress printed "Cloister C" Letterpress shows the beauty of the debossing and the incredible detail that can be achieved. (Picture three times real size!)	Type & Composing Stick Four "Cloister" initials set in a composing stick. Type scale ruler, individual letters and ornaments with some set leaded type.	Washing out a polymer plate The exposed polymer plate is placed on an oscillating magnetic base which is brushed with water by fine brushes just below the waterline. The water washs away the exposed area, leaving the image in relief.
Scotland & USA Decorative letters set in a composing stick	Margaret Hendry at Game Fair Piccolo always has a tent presence at our local Scottish Game Fair where we can show many of our products and meet lots of friends and clients.	Heidelberg Cylinder Press A lovely piece of precision mechanical engineering that is used for cutting and creasing.
Platens Piccolo Press has four of these beautifully enginered Platen Presses. They date from around 1960, just before production of them ceased.	Small Washington Press Photographed at the New York Stationery Show in 2005	Treadle Hand Fed Platen Photographed at the premises of Browne & Company at Southside Seaport New York. It is probably a "Gordon" Press and is like my Arab, although without the parallel action.
Tim Honnor at Browne & Company New York Browne & Company at South Street Seaport is a "must visit' for those interested in letterpress printing.	Invitation about to be letterpress printed Rollers are just inking over the polymer plate, locked up in the case using quoins and furniture. One arm of the "windmill" is about to offer the card to the plate for printing.	Cylinder close up This shows the cylinder 'jacket' that takes the 'hit' of the cutting and creasing rules.
A simple reply card showing the deboss of letterpress This simple card shows how clear a letterpress image can be.	Tim Honnor & Holly Temple Holly is our American Agent and a wonderful designer - and person. She is very much part of our team at Piccolo, even if she lives in Philadelphia! (but visits us often)	Old Printing Blocks A collection of printing blocks. Note the Scottish Thistle banner!
Letterpress Invitation Trees are firmly debossed into card so that their image can be really felt. Letterpress has to use a paper that will 'give' with the impression and still show a crisp image. There is none better than "Somerset" papers made in Wells, England.	Monotype Caster In the good old days all type was cast - mostly on these incredibly clever engineering masterpieces. Machine in the workshop of John Easson of Perth, Scotland.	Blind embossing is letterpress without ink! This shows the detail that can be achieved by blind embossing on the right stock, in this case 'Somerset' 300gsm paper.
John Easson's Print-shop John, a serious hobby letterpress printer has his workshop in Perth. With the advent of polymer, it is no longer necessary to have as many type cases filled with different typefaces!	Tim's Model No 3 Victorian Hand Press A hundred years ago, this press was used to print business cards. Made of cast iron, it is really heavy!	The Arab Treadle Press The Arab Press was foot treadled and a hundred years ago would be found in the majority of print shops all over the world. It revolutionised the quality of printing by a most clever action that produced a near parallel stroke.