Artisans

Printer

The printer printed newspapers, religious pamphlets, almanacs, schoolbooks, medical handbooks, and government papers. Printing was a long process. Each letter used in a word were handmade out of metal. These letters were called "matrices". Words were set up in "composition sticks", then transferred to the galley. The stoneman decided what the page would look like in the finished form and laid out the type and pictures in that way. The stoneman then framed the page with an iron chaise and secured the matrices. The finished galley was then placed into the press machine. Ink was spread over it. When a piece of paper was placed on top of the inked galley, the result was a printed page.

A variety of presses are used in the Print Shop to produce broadsides, notices and forms. The printer sets each letter upside down and backward so that the text will be correct once it is printed. Exhibit items include a foot pedal operated platen press, a screw press and proof presses. Wooden type cases have hand-set metal and wood type. A variety of wood block designs augment the many fonts available. There are composing stones, galley trays, spacers, quoin keys and furniture cabinets.