Etc. Type Etc. [Letterpress Typography Specimen / Private Press Production]

Item Details

The Three Generations Press, 1981, Stapled illustrated wraps

Limited, Fine

A finely crafted letterpress specimen from The Three Generations Press, presenting the possibilities of type, ornaments, borders, engravings, and typographic accessories available to a private press printer.

More than a simple sample book, etc. type etc. celebrates the physical materials of printing — typefaces, decorative elements, and presswork — through an intentionally designed demonstration of the craft. The volume reflects the revival of hand printing and private press traditions in the late twentieth century.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

• Format — Octavo-format booklet measuring approximately 5.125 by 7 inches. Twenty-two pages, printed in blue and black ink on white paper and bound in plain wrappers with a single staple binding.
• Letterpress Production — Printed at The Three Generations Press, Wayne, Michigan, on a 10 x 15 Chandler & Price hand-fed platen press believed to have been manufactured in 1889.
• Typographic Design — Features numerous examples of type styles, decorative ornaments, borders, printer’s devices, engravings, and typographic arrangements, including Bodoni, Bodoni Italic, Bernhard Modern Roman, Goudy Forum, Bernhard Cursive, Stradivarius, and Goudy Inline.
• A Year in Type — Each month is presented as a separate calendar composition, demonstrating different approaches to type, borders, frames, and decorative elements.
  Printer’s Documentation — The detailed colophon records the press, papers, typefaces, and production history of the edition.

CONDITION: FINE. A clean and well-preserved example. The wrappers remain bright and intact. Interior pages are clean with no significant flaws noted. Binding is secure.

The colophon records that twenty-five copies were printed on special 80 lb. machine-made vellum-finish paper for a bookbinding experience at Greenfield Village, Henry Ford Museum; an additional 215 copies were printed for members of the Monks & Friars of the Metropolitan Detroit Area and the International membership of The Amalgamated Printer’s Association.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE: A CALENDAR OF LETTERPRESS POSSIBILITY.
This work documents the continuing vitality of hand printing through the creative presentation of type, ornament, and presswork. Rather than functioning only as a printer’s specimen, etc. type etc. transforms the resources of The Three Generations Press into a designed typographic composition.

Each month of the year is presented as a separate typographic exploration, combining distinctive typefaces, borders, ornaments, frames, and decorative elements to demonstrate the range of possibilities available to the private press printer.

THE ART OF LETTERPRESS PRESERVED.
The volume serves as both a record of a working letterpress shop and an example of the book arts tradition in which movable type, design, and craftsmanship become the subject of the publication itself. The detailed colophon further preserves the technical history of the production, documenting the press equipment, typefaces, papers, and limited distribution of the edition.

SUBJECTS: Letterpress, Printing Presses, Type Specimens, Typography, Private Presses, Chandler & Price Press, Movable Type, Printing History, The Three Generations Press, Book Arts, Letterpress Printing, Private Press, Fine Printing, Typography, Printing History, Book Arts, Graphic Design.

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