THE OLD SCHOOL PRESS

Moments in the making of The Daniel Press in Frome

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My co-author David Chambers has established that the Daniel family printed on a small parlour press of a make known as a Ruthven, not as their bibliographer Madan thought on a small Albion. David has such a press so we felt it entirely appropriate to print two items for tipping into the book. We chose a couple of items, one printed by Henry Daniel (who went on to found the Daniel Press in Oxford) and another by his brother Eustace. We had blocks made of examples of those items and printed from them.

The Ruthven reverses the usual press mechanics by having the platen moved across over the bed, as David is doing in this photo, pulling it towards him. The next two images show the subsequent stages.