WIGTOWN PRESS is run by fine artist Helen Morley
in Scotland's official book town in beautiful Galloway.
Baile na h-Ùige - the settlement on the wide sweeping bay.
in Scotland's official book town in beautiful Galloway.
Baile na h-Ùige - the settlement on the wide sweeping bay.
There are various historical definitions of the concept of 'private press.'
My ambition is to set moveable metal type to engravings, etchings or other blocks, in limited edition numbers of broadsheets, hand sewn chapbooks and hardback books, exploring the combination of typography, image, pattern and message.
.
Printing is a beautifully analogue, low impact art form using antique tools, materials and machines in contemporary ways.
It is a magical weaving of skilled processes that has the capacity to produce exquisite and unusual work, lifting up unheard voices.
My ambition is to set moveable metal type to engravings, etchings or other blocks, in limited edition numbers of broadsheets, hand sewn chapbooks and hardback books, exploring the combination of typography, image, pattern and message.
.
Printing is a beautifully analogue, low impact art form using antique tools, materials and machines in contemporary ways.
It is a magical weaving of skilled processes that has the capacity to produce exquisite and unusual work, lifting up unheard voices.
Limited edition books and broadsheets
FOUR POEMS BY VIOLET JACOB - A small chapbook of four poems written by Violet Jacob after her son was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The book is 16 pages of Zerkall paper printed with 14pt Gill monotype and two acrylic engravings. The work is limited to 40 signed copies.
It is available here.
It is available here.
THE RAVEN SITS – a poem by Mark Vernon Thomas, illustrated by Helen Morley of Wigtown Press. Mark Vernon Thomas is a poet living deep in the Machars, South-west Scotland. He has been published in a number of magazines internationally, is a Federation of (Scottish) Writers 2020 prize winner and is included among the Champions 2020 poets on the Scottish Poetry Library website. He is very fond of cats.
This entirely hand printed artist book (or chapbook) is illustrated with acrylic engravings developed from intuitively made mono-prints and the text is hand printed with moveable metal type, printed on the Cropper Minerva printing press. The text is printed in black ink on dark blue card as a response to the mysterious opening and closing of the poem and its darkness, which similarly demands close scrutiny.
It is set in 12 and 14pt Baskerville fount on 170gsm deckle edged Zerkall smooth paper, is hand sewn, signed by the poet and artist, and is limited to 50 copies. The internal print measures approximately 76x25cm and is £40 including free UK P&P.
It is available here.
This entirely hand printed artist book (or chapbook) is illustrated with acrylic engravings developed from intuitively made mono-prints and the text is hand printed with moveable metal type, printed on the Cropper Minerva printing press. The text is printed in black ink on dark blue card as a response to the mysterious opening and closing of the poem and its darkness, which similarly demands close scrutiny.
It is set in 12 and 14pt Baskerville fount on 170gsm deckle edged Zerkall smooth paper, is hand sewn, signed by the poet and artist, and is limited to 50 copies. The internal print measures approximately 76x25cm and is £40 including free UK P&P.
It is available here.
WINTER TWILIGHT - This small broadsheet is a poem by Angelina Weld Grimke. The text is printed in 18pt Plantin moveable type on the Cropper Minerva press, and the acrylic engraving is printed on the Austin intaglio press on 170gsm Zerkall smooth paper.
The edition is signed and limited to 35 copies, and will be posted flat. £22 including UK postage.
It is available here.
The edition is signed and limited to 35 copies, and will be posted flat. £22 including UK postage.
It is available here.
