Somerset & Zerkall
Mould-made cotton stocks in a few weights, for both text and covers.
From manuscript to bound sheet, in the order it actually happens.
Every job is different, but most pass through the same six stages. Roughly a month, start to finish, for a run of a hundred or so copies.
Manuscript
We read the text through once for length and rhythm before anything else — line breaks and page count depend on it, and it's cheaper to fix on paper than in metal.
Composition
Type is set, either by hand from the case or on the Monotype casters we still keep running, depending on the typeface and the run length.
Proofing
A proof goes out for reading and correction. We mark it up in the margins the same way a printer would have in 1930, then correct the standing type.
Presswork
Sheets are run on the Vandercook, one colour at a time, with the paper dampened for the heavier impressions. This is the slow part, and the part we like best.
Folding & gathering
Printed sheets are folded into signatures and gathered in order by hand. We check collation twice before anything goes near a needle.
Sewing & binding
Signatures are sewn on tapes or cords, the spine is glued and lined, and the case or wrapper is built and attached last.
Materials on hand
What tends to be in stock. We're happy to source something else for the right job.
Caslon, Centaur, Gill
Foundry and Monotype faces kept in working condition, cased by size.
Bookcloth & buckram
A working range of book cloths for cases, plus a smaller shelf of Japanese cloth for slipcases.