Museum of Printing

Did you know about this museum?  Sometimes we book trips because BOLLI members tell us about a little-known wonder that turns out to be an incredibly interesting place.  On Thursday, June 19, we will be visiting an example of such a find -- the Museum of Printing in Haverhill, MA.  They are opening just for us, where we will receive a private tour of the foundry (where type is set), and continue on to the galleries and workshop.  

The Museum was incorporated in 1978 to save and preserve printing equipment and library materials associated with the graphic arts. The history of printing has changed dramatically during the last 200 years, moving away from letterpress printing to photographic and electronic technologies. You will hear the stories of these changes using one of the world’s largest collections of printing and typesetting hardware and ephemera. The Main Gallery contains printing presses of all kinds. There are also two art galleries with rotating exhibits. 

The price of the tour is $10 per person, with participation limited to 15.  Please contact Syrl Silberman syrl@sagecoach-cac.com.  We will be lunching together at a nearby restaurant.

Below is a bit more about the Museum.                          

The Museum of Printing is dedicated to preserving the rich history of the graphic arts, printing and typesetting technology, and printing craftsmanship. In addition to many special collections and small exhibits, the Museum contains hundreds of antique printing, typesetting, and bindery machines, as well as a library of books and printing-related documents.

The journey starts in the foundry era, which reaches back 500 years. Exhibits explain the transition from hand-setting individual sorts of foundry type to mechanized hot-metal typesetting and discusses the Linotype, Monotype and Ludlow linecasting machines. 

The Museum has the only collection of phototypesetting machines, fonts, and ephemera in the world.