top of page
The printing of a masterpiece

The printing of a masterpiece

Loney, Alan (1940- )

2008

North Fitzroy, Vic: Black Pepper

Biographies

_ pending _

686.2092 LONE

For loan

Once copy only

I cannot think of any work that resembles The printing of a masterpiece. It is a memoir of the flowing intermesh of typography, ink-and-paper, Renaissance cultural history and deeply personal, hands-on knowledge. It is about the printing of an exquisite book, an object in which every stage of craftsmanship has been scrupulously considered.

Inside the printer’s narrative there grows, like something marvellous in a tropical aquarium, Leonardo da Vinci’s incipient book on Nothing. The printing of a masterpiece pays its tribute to predecessors and exemplars; to Aldus Manutius, Joseph Moxon or Eric Gill. The reader is gently led to feel inward with Process. It’s a book about making, and about understanding. We come away knowing a great deal more than we did.

Alan Loney is a beautiful stylist - lucid and compelling. He takes us into the heart of that question: How is a book actually made? It is an ultra-fine book whose growth he charts, but what happens happens, in petto, with all printed books. I have never seen paper, ink or type described in such a sexy way, let alone the character of pen nibs. For all its refinement of style and subject matter this text is, as my late Professor used to say, a rattling good read.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

BINDERY OPENING HOURS FOR MEMBERS

1st Tuesdays of the month 10:30am - 4:30pm

2nd Saturdays of the month: 9:30am - 1:30pm

All Wednesdays: 10:00am – 5:00pm

NB. The Bindery is closed over Christmas and New Year from mid December until mid January

NSW Bookbinder's Guild
PO Box 1110
Rozelle, NSW 2039

NSW Bookbinder's Guild Ralph Lewis Bindery
Room 14,  Garry Owen House
Callan Park, Balmain Rd
Lilyfield, NSW 2038

 

In the spirit of Reconciliation, the NSW Guild of Bookbinders acknowledges the Wangal people,
Traditional Custodians of the land on which the Bindery is located, and pays respects to their Elders past and present.

 

© 2024 by Stefania Riccardi for NSW Guild of Bookbinders. All rights reserved.

bottom of page