Women Printers

I always enjoy learning about the kinds of work women have done in industry and trades. Recently, I found this online exhibit at Princeton. It’s called Unseen Hands: Women Printers, Binders & Book Designers.

Untitled (Woman Proofing a Page, by W. Parke Johnson. Woodcut.")

According to one entry about the 18th- and 19th-century printshop, women held such jobs as “book sewer,” “gold leaf packer,” and “book folder.” According to another entry, Emily Faithfull, a British philanthropist and activist who founded Victoria Press in 1860, employed (to the dismay of printer’s unions!) only women compositors. Have a look. Some gorgeous designs, and interesting book history, too.

If you can enlarge the image at left, do so. Shoes!