letterpress printmaking

letterpress printmaking sets metal or wooden letters in your desired order, then rolls them against ink and applies pressure. is it what most people think of as a "printing press" and was used from the 15th to early 20th century. although most people now use modern inkjet or laser printers, letterpress printing is still used for art and by font nerds (I'm one) worldwide.

the blocks used for letterpress printmaking come from moveable typefaces in many languages. this includes yiddish and hebrew type. I recently bought some type specimens at the Typographics 2026 book fair and my favorite was a hebrew monotype book from DRY Inc.

here are two photos of that from me, plus more of my favorite examples from the web!

sources:

• rachelle grossman
• yiddish book center ייִדישער ביכער־צענטער
• pashkevil press
• cut paper press - caleb shur
• shani avni שני אבני
• american printing history association
• base press - yiddish words vol 1
• purgatory pie press - lower east side print