THE OLD SCHOOL PRESS

The printing of The Bricks of Venice

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As the sheets come off the press, they are stacked carefully with interleaving sheets to prevent the print on one from rubbing on to the back of the next. Every time I add ink - every ten sheets - I mark the point with a slip of paper. When I print the backs (and perhaps put the sheet through again for a second colour) I need to re-ink at the same points. So the sheets come in tens: the first sheet in a ten is the darkest and the last the lightest. To ensure even colour throughout the bound book, I must ensure that the binder binds first sheets together, and then second sheets together, and so on. All this palaver is made necessary because the press has no automatic ink feed! It's a bit like climbing Everest without oxygen - interesting but not strictly necessary!