Fine press
Fine press printing and publishing comprises historical and contemporary printers and publishers publishing books and other printed matter of exceptional intrinsic quality and artistic taste, including both commercial and private presses. Their dedication to fine printing distinguishes them from other small presses. Fine press publications are often published in limited editions, that are swiftly bought up by book collectors and libraries.
History of fine press
As part of the Arts and Crafts movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Englishman William Morris wanted to counter the industrialization of culture through a revival of craft in printing, printmaking, and publishing. One of the books they published was the Kelmscott Chaucer. Soon, fine presses began to spring up in the United States as well. The most prominent was the Roycroft Press. Los Angeles was a center of the fine press movement, particularly centered on the Ward Ritchie press. In the 1920s, San Francsico became known for the elegant publications of John Henry Nash, and likewise became a fine press center on the west coast.
List of fine presses
United States
- Alderbrink Press (1897 - 1928?)
- Blue Sky Press (1899–1906)
- Clerk's Press (1908–1919)
- Cranbrook Press (1900–1902)
- Elston Press (1900–1904)
- Marion Press (1896–1931)
- The Mosher Press (1891 - 1923+) Set up by Thomas Bird Mosher in 1891, in Portland, Maine
- No Reply Press (2019-Present)
- Philosopher Press (1896–1904)
- Roycroft Press (1896 - 1915+) Set up by Elbert Hubbard in 1895
- Trovillion Press at the Sign of the Silver Horse Set up by Hal W. Trovillion in Herrin, Illinois in 1908
- Hammer Creek Press (1950–1962)
- Thornwillow Press, New York (1985 - Present)
California presses
- Colt Press, San Francisco
- Grabhorn Press, San Francisco
- John Henry Nash, San Francisco
- Plantin Press, Los Angeles. Founded by Saul and Lillian Marks, in 1931
- Saunders Studio Press, Claremont. Founded by Lynne and Ruth Thompson Saunders in 1927
- Ward Ritchie Press
- Arion Press, San Francisco
United Kingdom
- Ashendene Press (1894–1935)
- Daniel Press Oxford (1874–1903)
- Doves Press (1900–1916) - Founded by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker
- Eragny Press (1894–1914)
- Essex House Press (1898–1910)
- Fine Press Poetry (founded 2013) by Andrew J Moorhouse
- Folio Society - Founded by Charles Ede in 1947
- Golden Cockerel Press - Founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920
- Gregynog Press (1922-) - Founded by Gwendoline and Margaret Davies
- Kelmscott Press (1891–1898) - Set up by William Morris in 1891
- Nonesuch Press - Founded in 1922 by Francis and Vera Meynell, and David Garnett
- The Press of Gaetano Polidori
- Rampant Lions Press (1924-2008)
- St James Park Press of James Freemantle (2014-Present)
- Strawberry Hill Press of Horace Walpole
- Vale Press (1896–1905)
- Vincent Press
Australia
- Finlay Press founded and operated by Phil Day (artist) and Ingeborg Hansen in Australia. 1997-2009.