Fineleaves

Inspiration! Kathy Lewis

2010-03-03T15:57:00.001Z

Inspiration! Kathy Lewis

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A country bookshop in 1800

2010-01-24T21:34:00.004Z

While researching a talk on early Welsh printers I unearthed an advertisement for the books that were sold by Samuel Rogers, a printer and bookseller in Chepstow, 1806 (not to be confused with Samuel Rogers the poet). The list gives a fascinating glimpse at book buying habits two hundred years ago.

Poetry, literature and reference books dominated the list, with some titles still in print today.

The prices charged are also fascinating, with the majority of titles on sale at between three and six shillings - and considerably more for books that were described as 'bound'. This was a time when all paper was handmade, and very expensive, and timber-framed 'common' printing presses could only be worked at a very slow rate. Mechanical printing presses and paper making processes had yet to be invented. When I looked at these prices I assumed equivalent costs today would be far higher than current book prices: that was until I searched the National Archives website and found an equivalency calculator - it seems that 5 shillings in 1800 would have been equivalent to about £8 today, so prices in this Chepstow bookshop were remarkably parallel. But there was no mention of how much Rogers charged for a cappuccino!

Competition One

2010-01-16T17:52:00.006Z

The famous Gutenberg Bible was one of the first books to be printed in Europe. The work of Johannes Gutenberg, working in Mainz, he is thought to have printed the first copies sometime between 1450 and 1454.

An estimated 48 copies of this book still survive in museums and private collections worldwide, but which British school has one of those original copies in its library?

Follow the Contact Fineleaf link on this blog to email your answer. The prize for the first correct reply is a copy of our facsimile edition of The Treatise on Cyder making, first published in 1753.

Competition winner. Congratulations to Malcolm Castle from Gloucestershire

Baskerville, Caslon and Garamond

2010-01-15T18:03:00.012Z

Are these three names familiar? The chances are that the range of fonts installed on your computer will include these names, because Garamond, Caslon and Baskerville were three very important type designers in their day - and their legacy lives on.

Claud Garamond (1480 - 1561) was a French publisher and one of the most important type designers of his day, although many of the present day Garamond type designs were actually based on designs by the later French printer Jean Jannon (1580–1635). William Caslon (1692 - 1776) was an English engraver and type designer. His type faces became very popular and were widely used for a long time. John Baskerville (1706 - 1775) was a printer and typeface designer who worked in Birmingham. His type designs were also widely used during that period and were even adopted for official publications of the new United States government following Independence.

These early typographers worked at a time when individual pieces of ‘moveable type’ had to be cast in specialist workshops - type foundries - then set letter at a time as part of the traditional printing process. The modern fonts that are installed on our computer are based on designs from these and countless other early typographers. The terminology of typography and typesetting survives.

From small beginnings

2010-01-15T00:23:00.007Z

I can’t put it off any longer: I must stop gazing out of the office window at yet more snow - will it ever stop? I need to make a start with the task in hand, which is to write the first ever post on the new Fineleaves blog.

My intention is to give readers an insight into my work as a publisher. I plan to write about aspects of my work at Fineleaf, which is a small press in rural Herefordshire, and share my fascination with the history of printing and publishing.

I hope you find something of interest - and I will try to vary the output with a few competitions from time to time.