private presses

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 700+ words | Copyright

private presses are distinguished by aims that are aesthetic rather than commercial and by printing for the gratification of their owners rather than to order. Many have been set up since the 17th cent. by amateurs of books or printing, such as that of Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill (1757–97). At the end of the 19th cent. presses of this kind were intended as a protest against the low artistic standards and degradation of labour in the printing trade. W. Morris set up the Kelmscott Press (1891–8) with this object. The Cuala Press was founded in Ireland in 1902. The 1920s saw the foundation of the Golden Cockerel Press and Gregynog Press, and a considerable revival of interest in the art of wood engraving.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "private presses." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "private presses." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-privatepresses.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "private presses." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-privatepresses.html

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