PRINT SHOP

PRINTING, A LOCAL INDUSTRY

Wolverton has been linked with the printing industry since 1878 when McCorquodales built premises in the town. The firm specialised in registered envelope manufacture, but undertook many other printing contracts. Women found employment there, whilst their husbands and fathers worked at the adjacent railway works. There were many other jobbing printers in the area, who produced short run work such as business and invitation cards. Muscutt and Tompkins was such a firm in Stratford Road, Wolverton, with just a single printing press. This local connection continues with many printing firms still in Milton Keynes.

WHAT'S ON DISPLAY

The museum display shows a typical large jobbing firm's workshop as used by a printer and compositor (typesetter). In the centre of the workshop is the compositor's stone and adjacent racks containing cases of typeface. The stone is a heavy flat slab of metal to ensure the evenness of the work The compositor's job was very skilled and required a seven year apprenticeship. The typeface must be laid out with words correctly spelt and lines and pages set with the appropriate margins and spacings.

PRINTING PRESSES

The oldest press on display is the manually operated Columbian Eagle invented by George Clymer and dating from 1860. This ornately decorated machine which is capable of producing high quality work. There are several platen presses, varying from small hand operated Adanas to larger treadle types, dating from 1880 to 1930, such as the Diadem, Jardine, Cropper and Golding Jobber. A small bookbinders nipping press shows a screw operated type similar in concept to the earliest presses. The largest machine is the Wharfedale stop cylinder press with a patented flyer delivery of the 1880's, which can print large sheets. Similar machines were used by McCorquodales. Several types of paper cutting guillotines can be seen, including a large Victorian Furnival machine.

HISTORY OF PRINTING

The printed word first became important in the 13th century. However it was not until the 1400s that Johann Gutenburg developed the printing press. Before this paper was placed on inked blocks and firmly rubbed to create an impression. In Britain William Caxton also laid claims to the invention of printing.

The earliest presses were constructed entirely of wood and used a screwthread operated by handles or flyweights to apply pressure.. Improvements were made with the introduction of metal screwthreads, however it was not until the 1800s that Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope invented an all iron press with a large platen worked by a combination of screw and compound levers. This press was very successful and was used to print 'The Times' newspaper.

Later developments such as George Clymer's 'Columbian' (1817) and R.W.Cope's 'Albion' (1823) further improved the press and the quality of work. Friedrich Koenig, a Bavarian, built a mechanically driven cylinder press that increased the output of slow manual machines. Small treadle platen presses were also produced which were more suited for jobbing work. Eventually the rotary press allowed high speed production.

LETTERPRESS PRINTING

The basic process of printing entails creating an inked impression of a block (design) or type (lettering) on paper. This is achieved by pressing heavily with a metal platen by means of a screwthread, levers or using rollers. The process is known as letterpress with individual pieces of type made up (or composed) into words, sentences paragraphs and pages. Later methods used lines of type formed from hot metal (Linotype or Monotype) and more sophisticated techniques such as lithography, photogravure and intagho. Inking may be undertaken by hand or automatically with rollers and the presses can be operated manually, treadled or driven by a motor or engine via lineshafting and belts.

PRINT TERMINOLOGY

Printers and compositors use many terms unique to their trade - quoins, chases, formes, proof copy, upper case, lower case, quadrats, quotations, furniture, reglets, hair spaces, points, ems and ens, founts, brass rules, folio and quarto.