I became interested in the fine art of letterpress printing after taking a class at the San Francisco Center for the Book. One class and I was hooked! My formal education included offset printing, so I was already familiar with the nuances of the printing process. Although the technical aspects of offset and letterpress are different, I immediately fell in love with the beautiful, tactile qualities of letterpress printing.

What started as a hobby, turned into an obsession—and now a thriving business. I launched 1915press.com in January of 2006.

I welcome your questions and comments! Please email me at:rebecca@1915press.com. Please make reference to '1915 Press' in the subject line.

The press was originally configured to run off of a steam-driven pulley system, but is now operated by a foot treadle. Everything about it is manual, from putting the plate into the chase, to inking the rollers and hand-feeding the paper—one sheet at a time.

Most of the people who originally operated our press are gone now, but if our press could talk, it would tell us what it was like during two World Wars, the Roaring Twenties and the boom and bust of the stock market in the 1930s. Although the letterpress was replaced by the offset press as a commercial workhorse in the early part of the 20th century, many of these marvelous machines have been preserved by artisans who have rescued them from the sledge hammer and neglect. We don’t believe we own the press, but rather we are stewards for this magnificent antique and this is ’our watch'—charged with preserving the history and heritage of letterpress printing for future generations.