Cathie Ruggie Saunders has been making letterpress books since 1973 and has over 25 years of experience teaching letterpress printing to graduate and undergraduate students at the School of Art Institute in Chicago. Martha Chiplis has more than 16 years of experience printing limited edition books and also teaches at the Art Institute.

Conveying the authors' love of the letterpress process and product, this book covers everything you need to know to create beautiful work. Beginning with the technology and history of type and the printed page, it continues with the fundamentals of measurement, terminology and the lay of the case. Guidance on planning the concept, gathering inspiration and critiquing your work will help you develop your skills or show you how to lead others to do so. The authors also show how contemporary digital processes are highly compatible with letterpress and have expanded its boundaries in the 21st century. A must for students who wish to learn letterpress and instructors as a handy reference.

Acknowledgements
1 The Sensual, Printed Artifact
The Allure/The Passion
2 The Historical Legacy: Connecting the Past and Future
Frederic Goudy/Oswald Cooper/Robert Hunter Middleton
3 Printer’s Primer
Terminology/Measurement/Lay of the Case/Spacing and Leading/Setting Type by Hand/Tying up the Form/Alignment/Ink/Paper for Proofing/Proofing
4 Press and Printing
Paper/The Vandercook Proof Press: “The Editioning Press”/Lock-Up/Press Operation/Checking the Impression/Makeready/Registering Multiple Colors/Editioning/After Printing: Cleaning the Press/Platen Presses (Chandler & Price)
5 Relief Matrices
Foundry Type/Monotype/Linotype/Ludlow/Images/Ornaments/Woodcuts/Wood Engraving/Linoleum Cut /Laser-Cut Materials/Other
6 Contemporary Processes
Found Objects and Other Materials/Pressure Printing/Split Fountain/Debossing/Printing without Ink/Damping/Monoprint/Hand Inking/Splatter /Ghosting Backwards/ Transfer/Floriated Initial Image Transfer /Brayer Roll-Outs/Stencil
7 Creating a Concept
Sources of Inspiration/Time
8 Envisioning the Object
Structural Possibilities/Relationship of Content and Structure/The Function of Dummy Structures/Choosing Appropriate Typefaces/Choosing Appropriate Paper/Choosing an Appropriate Color Palette/The Colophon
9 Assessing the Object Envisioned
Critique Format Models/The Synergy of Form and Content
10 Gallery of Lettepress
Conclusion

Appendices
Further Reading
Additional Resources
Letterpress Nomenclature (Glossary)
Index