HAND PRINTING

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 129, 5 June 1929, Page 4

HAND PRINTING

A OffiRMAN RbViVAL

Nearly twenty years.ago, in Bremen, Germany, an establishment was founded for;thei purpose of carrying on the Middle Ages tradition of hand printing, of printing as an art, of arranging the printed page to reflect the sound and rhythm of the language and the «karacter and form of the work itself. This was the Bremer Presse, direcjted by Dr. Willy Wiegand.

Some idea Of the labour involved in printing a book by hand may be gained from the Bremer Presses latest accomplishment, the Luther's Bible of 2200 pages, all hand printed. It took five years to design the type, which was cut and re-cut fifteen times V Dr. Wiegand before he considered the result satisfactory. The work of setting up the type and of printing the book was then carried out in two and.a half years. There were two printers at work, and four compositors. . The only forms of ornament used were the titles and initials cut in wood.

This publication,' Dr. Wiegand says, is the first representative edition since Luther's time which gives the early text its original form, lost in subsequent editions by adaptations to the changes of the language. It was printed at this time to celebrate the 400 th anniversary of the completion of Luther 's translation. ■>.

Iji 1912, following, the example of William.Morris and J. T. Cobdeu-San-derson, who; opened the Kelmscott and Doves Presses in England, the Bremer Presse began experiments in its' own press room exclusively devoted to hand printing, and has since issued a number of publications. According to Dr. Wiegand, attention is given to having a well-balanced text, evenly coloured by careful spacing and uniform black inking, exact, adjustment of the register, and the'use of hand-made paper of the best material'and lasting quality. About five years ago it completed the publication of .Homer's "Iliad and Odyssey,?' in. limitedl editions, printed by hand on. hand-made paper.. This plan of; printing a representative edition of both Homeric epics was, according to Dr.-Wiegand, thus realised for the first time since the editio princeps of D.emetrios Chalcondylas (1488) and the edition of .Henricus Stephanus (1566).; For this edition of the Bremer Presse a font of Greek type was designed which aimed to reform the Greek types ordinarily used for printing by substituting a,pure typographical character for the calligraphic character of the usual Grook type, and at the same time to approach the rhythm and symmetry of the Greek language. The next work of the'Bremer Presse was St. Augustine's "De Civitate Dei," the. first representative folio print since the famous editions of the Middle ages.Other notable works of the Bremer Presse are Dante's "La Divina Commendia," Bacon's Essays, and Goethe's "Faust." The firm is now engaged in producing a Roman missal, undertaking for the first time, says- Dr. Wiegand, to give the missal a new and dignified form.

While there are about a dozen private presses of a similar type in Germany, the.United States ana.England, as well as other foreign countries, have few such establishments^ according to Dr. Wiegand. He feels that such work has a great influence in; raising the standards;, of. craftsmanship in printing. ■.■'.. , !