Since I set up my little print shop in the centre of Bristol eleven years ago, I’ve been aware of the St Bride Foundation, just off Fleet Street, and it’s significance in the history of letterpress printing in Britain. So over the years I’ve known Mick and the workshop team and have kept in touch through print fairs and Wayzgoose over the years. So I was very happy and honoured to visit the library and workshop yesterday and print a bookmark close to my heart. As some of you know, Paul Peter Piech was a significant figure in printing and illustration particularly his work for positive change. Olwen, Paul’s daughter sent me one of Paul’s linocuts to use for a bookmark I knew that I would print the bookmark here where Paul worked and lived for much of his working life (in London) and somewhere that he would have known.
I wanted to add something of St Bride, so set an alphabet in type from the workshop, Stymie, a 1930s font, a slab serif. Of course, my dyslexic brain couldn’t even set the alphabet correctly, so the first half of the print run on the bike press was wrong, though as usual most people loved the mistake and preferred the ‘wrong’ edition.
Well it was a wonderful visit and great to catch up with old friends and of course we ended up in the Crown and Sugar Loaf on the corner of Fleet Street.
