Colby Clair Stolson

I've been a bibliophile for over a decade. While working at one of Edmonton's most renowned used bookstores, I acquired a taste for book design.

My university studies brought me through the 60s and 70s of Canadian and American Literature, namely the Black Mountain School, TISH, and the language of typewriters and concrete poetry. Having collected typewriters over the years, owning and operating a printing press was the next logical step. Both are mechanical; both are used to produce works of typographic art and literary merit. And now, I'm fascinated by all things printing and all things typography. The history of printing has become a thrilling subject in the same way a person might not ever tire of birdwatching.

I operate a circa 1912 10x15 Chandler & Price Old Style Platen Press. It weighs approximately 1500 lbs. and is made almost entirely of cast iron.

But the press isn't all a person needs to practice letterpress printing. In one half of my double car garage, I also steward a rack of furniture, assorted girders, a case of reglets, chases, quoins, several tins of ink, a line gauge, composing sticks, and nearly 80 drawers of type (+2 of wood type). That sounds like a lot, but considering that each typeface is one drawer, and that a typeface consists of only one point size of one style (eg. 18 pt. Futura Italic), it's not nearly enough.

I hope to share with the world (well, this continent to start) my love of printing and type-forward design. Thanks for following my journey.