The photographs here are typical of an erstwhile medium-sized letterpress company.
They were all taken upon the premises of Benham & Company of Colchester – a well known letterpress house in its day.
In 1961 the company moved from their town centre location into new purpose-built premises. Some of these pictures are from the old factory and some from the new. To see the full photo, click to enlarge.
- Where it often began… the Design Studio
- Putting the design into practice… the Composing room
- Hand-setting from the case… sometimes referred to as ‘hand-flogging’
- Carrying out Author’s corrections on an 8 page forme
- The Monotype Keyboard room
- Two Monotype casters (for text) and a Monotype Super Caster (for display type, rules and leads)
- A freshly cast galley of type
- A battery of single colour Albert Präsident presses
- Liaison with the client at the delivery end of an Albert Präsident press
- A pen-ruling machine for ruling ledgers, etc.
- The finishing touches… the bindery