The use of wood in printing as a material for making type had been made for hundreds of years before the 19th century.Wood was the logical material because of it's lightness, availability, and known printing qualities.
Darius Wells of New York found the means for mass producing letters in 1827, and published the first known wood type catalog in 1828. The usual procedure was to draw the letter on wood, or paper which was pasted to the wood. Then cut around the letter with a knife or graver, gouging out the parts to be left blank.
Wells however, introduced a basic invention, the lateral router that, in combination with a pantograph introduced by William Leavenworth in 1834 constituted the essential material for mass-producing wood type.
The next major step in the manufacture of wood type was the introduction of Hollywood type in 1880 by Edward J. Hamilton, founder of the Hamilton manufacturing Company, of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Hollywood was used in preference to maple, because it was 50% less costly and it could be cut 1/16' thick and glued to cheap pine.
I enjoyed my little experimentation in letterpress for "Seeing London through the eyes of a designer" project.
I would like to be better in typography and thinking letterpress with wood type might be a good project to start with.
my alphabet made in letterpress using newsprint+newspaper
I inverted colours in photoshop
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