Private press

Private press is a term used in the field of book collecting to describe a printing press operated as an artistic or craft-based endeavor, rather than as a purely commercial venture. The term is also used in the record collecting field to describe records released in small runs by individuals, as opposed to records released by record labels.

Private Press Movement

The term 'Private Press' is often used to refer to a movement in book production which flourished at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries under the influence of characters such as William Morris. The movement is often considered to have been sparked by the founding of Morris' Kelmscott Press in 1891. Those involved in this trend created well-made books with an emphasis on a book as a work of art and skill, rather than a mere medium for the transferral of information. It was an off-shoot of the Arts and Crafts movement, and represented a shift from the cheap mechanised book production methods which became prevalent in the Victorian era. The books were made from high quality materials, and were often produced by hand. Additionally, books were often produced as a single creative entity with strong consideration given to illustration, format and typeface. The movement slowly dwindled away with the worldwide depression in the 1930s, as the market for luxury goods evaporated. Since the 1950s, there has been a resurgence of interest, especially among artists, in the experimental use of letterpress printing, paper making and hand bookbinding in producing small editions of "artists' books."

Notable private presses

* Ad insigne pinus in Augsburg from 1594 to 1619.
* Strawberry Hill Press — the "Officina Arbuteana" — of Horace Walpole.
* The Press of Gaetano Polidori.
* Daniel Press in Oxford from 1874 to 1903.
* Kelmscott Press set up by William Morris in 1891.
* The Mosher Press set up by Thomas Bird Mosher in 1891 in Portland, Maine.
* Roycroft Press set up by Elbert Hubbard in 1895.
* Doves Press founded by T. J. Cobden Sanderson and Emery Walker in 1900.
* Gregynog Press (1922-) Founded by Gwendoline and Margaret Davis
* Trovillion Press at the Sign of the Silver Horse, set up by Hal W. Trovillion in Herrin, Illinois in 1908.
* The Golden Cockerel Press founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920.
* Nonesuch Press founded in 1922 by Francis and Vera Meynell, and David Garnett.
* The Perishable Press Limited founded by Walter Hamady in 1964.
* Something Else Press operated by Dick Higgins from 1964 to 1973.

References

* Johanna Drucker, "The Century of Artists' Books". New York: Granary Books, 1995.