Methodologies, Management, Catalysts, Theories and Fiction
Object: Adana 5x3 Letterpress
Image: (Briar Press, 2022)
The Adana Agency was founded in 1922 by Donald Aspinall and selling their unique printing presses to both commercial companies and hobbyists around the world (Caslon Limited, 2022). The Adana 5x3 letterpress is the smallest of modern Adana machines and was first unveiled in 1956. It was one of the earliest Adana machines to be made of an aluminium alloy, rather than cast iron (Caslon Limited, 2022).
The development of offset lithography in the 1960s changed the nature of the printing industry, letterpress became economically unviable and, in most part, redundant (Rivers, p10, 2010). This decline in popularity took a further blow with the introduction of computers and subsequently the production of the Adana letterpress machine ended in the mid-1980s. Caslon Limited stepped in purchasing Adana in 1987 and they continued to supply refurbished 8x5 presses and supplies (Caslon Limited, 2022).
Images: (Rivers, 2010, p128, p67 & p73)
Since the 1990s a resurgence in the production of letterpress materials from a number of individuals and small companies predominantly in the US and UK, have revived the fortunes of letterpress printing. Favourable for creating a tactile light impression on the paper, which in the early days was known as a ‘kiss’; today a much-desired deeper inky impression is what has captured the hearts of letterpress printers and their clients alike (Rivers, p11, 2010). Possibly with this in mind, Caslon began production of a new 8x5 machine in 2017, capable of printing with greater pressures (Caslon Limited, 2022) and thus, reinventing the letterpress!
With the resurrection of letterpress comes the rise in studios opening their doors to provide workshops and courses in the craft. Some universities have managed to hold on to their print studios with a myriad of equipment, encouraging experimentation, bringing history to life and in turn raising future letterpress practitioners and users of the aesthetic. The future looks bright.
Reference List
Briar Press (2022) Adana 5x3 instruction manual. Available at
https://www.briarpress.org/14558 (Accessed 2 November 2022).
British Letterpress (2022) The Adana 5x3. Available at https://britishletterpress.co.uk/presses/small-presses/adana/the-adana-5-x-3/ (Accessed 2 November 2022).
Caslon Limited (2022) About Us. Available at https://www.adanaletterpress.co.uk/about-us-1-w.asp (Accessed 2 November 2022).
Caslon Limited (2022) Adana Letterpress. Available at https://caslon.co.uk/adana-letterpress/ (Accessed 2 November 2022).
Four and Eights (2022) Workshops. Available at https://www.foursandeights.co.uk/collections/workshops (Accessed 2 November 2022).
Rivers, C. (2010) Reinventing Letterpress. Hove: RotoVision.
St. Bride Foundation (2022) Workshops. Available at https://sbf.org.uk/whats-on/category/workshops/. Retrieved 2nd November 2022.
University of the Arts London (2022) Letterpress Short Course. Available at https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/communication-and-graphic-design/short-courses/graphic-design/letterpress-short-course-csm (Accessed 2 November 2022).
Wikipedia (2022) Letterpress printing. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterpress_printing (Accessed 2 November 2022).
Methodology
Primary source: First-hand experience of owning a press and attending courses at Central Saint Martins and other workshops. Photographs of my own press.
Secondary sources: Books and online resources.
Pictured above is my 5x3 press I rescued from eBay and refurbished from a once neglected paint flaking relic to a fully working teaching machine I would share with students. Roll on a few years, sitting beautifully displayed on a shelf in my studio unnoticed and untouched, the rollers had begun to liquify until completely melted away leaving it in the sorry state it is in today. Moral of the story buy the best from the experts! For now, relegated to the garage until refurb number two in the fullness of time.
