The print shop

The early print shop

An early print shop was a workshop with several trades. The typesetter took the type from the case, letter by letter, and set it in the composing stick to form lines. The lines were assembled into the forme of a page, which was locked inside an iron frame.

The pressman inked the forme with leather ink balls, laid down the dampened paper and lowered the platen by turning the screw. The sheets were then hung to dry and folded to form the book's gatherings.

This system barely changed from Gutenberg until the early 19th century, when iron presses appeared, followed by steam-powered machines.

The MUNAG holds presses, type, leads, type cabinets and tools that show how an early print shop worked.