A delightfully short (3:37) video covering the steps involved in printing and binding a book during the hand-press era (~1450-1830).
Printing: Arranging metal letters: 00:09; Preparing type: 00:25; Applying ink to the type: 00:32; Pressing paper onto the inked type: 00:40;
Binding: Folding & cutting sheets: 01:07; Hammering sheets: 01:24; Sewing sheets onto bands: 01:28; Rounding the spine: 01:43; Attaching cover boards: 01:56; Clamping the book & trimming pages: 02:20; Sewing endbands: 02:29; Covering with leather: 02:41; Decorating with hot metal tools: 03:11
Originally issued in 1969; remastered 2004. Shot on location at the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp. Topics covered include: cutting a type punch; making a copper strike and justifying the matrix; casting and dressing the type; composition, imposition, and proof-reading; inking and running off the sheets; stop-press corrections. (21:21)
Chancery Papermaking based on traditional materials and techniques at the University of Iowa's Center for the Book.
A short film documenting the hand papermaking process at Hayle Mill, England in 1976. The video describes all the processes in making fine paper including a section devoted to making and fitting a watermark to a mold.
A series of five videos by Stan Nelson, historian of printing history, detailing the process of type-founding - punchcutting, letterfoundry, tempering punches, striking matrices, casting type, dressing type, and finally assembling a mold.
Virtual Tour Videos from the National Print Museum in Dublin, Ireland. Videos show and discuss 1) a compositor setting type, 2) printing using several different presses at the museum, and 3) finishing options such as ruling, tabs, and marbled end pages.
Letterpress printing at the Museum Plantin-Moretus: Four videos showing (1) a compositor setting a page; (2) type being tied up; (3) type moved to press; (4) pages being printed.
“Buying a Book in Early Modern England” –RBS Summer 2024 Lecture by Aaron Pratt (45:17)
How did regular buyers—readers—acquired their books from English booksellers? What did shops look like? How did potential customers interact with booksellers and physical books they were interested in? What exactly did customers leave the shop with when they followed through on a purchase? And when they did, how soon after buying? During this lecture, Pratt covers some of this terrain, helping correct some sticky misconceptions and offer some clarity about one of the most basic aspects of England's early modern book trade.