Groups and Societies

Print­ers tend to be soci­able fel­lows, and it’s always nice to meet like-minded people. Hap­pily the UK has online and real-life groups that can sup­port you in your let­ter­press journey.

British Printing Society

The Brit­ish Print­ing Soci­ety has a pur­pose to cre­ate ‘friendly asso­ci­ation’ between print­ers of all types. (This unfor­tu­nately includes litho print­ers!) There are loc­al branches in many parts of the UK; a reg­u­lar magazine and an annu­al convention.

http://www.bpsnet.org.uk/

Oxford Guild of Printers

The Oxford Guild of Print­ers is a more book- and let­ter­press-focussed group than the BPS and hap­pily has mem­bers across the UK. While most events – like the monthly meet­ings and the Wayz­goose – are in Oxford­shire or sur­round­ing areas, the Guild is very friendly. Worth join­ing even if you’re miles away from Oxford!

http://www.oxfordguildofprinters.com/

Printing Historical Society

Devoted to the record­ing and explor­a­tion of print­ing his­tory, the PHS has done won­der­ful work and pro­duces the excel­lent Journ­al of the Print­ing His­tor­ic­al Soci­ety as well as Print­ing His­tory News with the Friends of St. Bride.

http://www.printinghistoricalsociety.org.uk/

Online: Briar Press

The right­ful par­ent to all oth­er let­ter­press web­sites, Bri­ar Press has been run­ning for just over fif­teen years. While star­ted as a US-focussed site its reach has now spread over the world. Bri­ar Press has the best online dis­cus­sion for­ums; and also the best place to buy and sell let­ter­press equip­ment out­side of the UK.

http://www.briarpress.org/

Online: Metal Type

Dave Hughes’ vibrant site is a mecca for those that case type in the UK wheth­er Lud­low, linecaster or Mono­type. The site also includes plenty of stor­ies and per­son­al his­tor­ies of typecast­ing and news­pa­pers especially.

http://metaltype.co.uk/