Existing comment:
Antique Wood and Metal Type
Beginning in the late 1430s, Johann Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, undertook the development of a new method of printing that ultimately revolutionized the production of books. His combined innovations -- conceiving the use and manufacture of moveable metal type, formulating oil-based printing ink, and employing a wooden press, similar to those used for agricultural purposes, for printing -- contributed directly to the Renaissance, spurring literacy and intellectual progress throughout the European continent and, eventually, other parts of the world.
Gutenberg's technological advances in the area of printing remained dominant until the first decades of the nineteenth century, when automated steam presses began to be used. Subsequent developments, such as the advent of photographing typesetting and, later, electronic typesetting, further revolutionized the printing industry. As printers adopted these newer methods of typesetting, the metal and wood block type that had been used for centuries were rendered commercially obsolete and other discarded.
As the former publisher of the Missoulian, a Montana newspaper, I have for many years rescued type and other materials used in letterpress printing in order to create one-of-a-kind works of art. These antique wood-type sculptures are my attempt to preserve and present this unique art form for the ages.
Lloyd Schermer, Artist |