The first known Western European book to deal substantively with printing processes was Joseph Moxon's Mechanick exercises; or The doctrine of handy-works applied to the art of printing (1683). This was a reprint of what originally appeared as a 24-part series. It actually constitutes the second volume in the series, the first volume (originally issued as 14 parts from 1677-1680) included chapters on everything from bricklaying and carpentry to smithing and turning. (The work is widely used by museums for reproductions of 17th century technology.)
Moxon, Hydrographer to Great Britain's King Charles II, was a maker of globes and mathematical instruments, and perhaps equally famous for printing the first English-language mathematical dictionary. Assuming you can find a copy in the marketplace, a first edition of Mechanick Exercises will set you back a good six figures+. Most collectors settle for one of the numerous reprints that have been published:
Another important early title about printing processes was John Smith's The Printer's Grammar, Containing a Concise History of the Origin of Printing (1755), which dealt with compositors' work but not with presswork. Smith's name may be a pseudonym, as evidence suggests he may in fact have been a Prussian immigrant. The first edition of this work is very difficult to come by, as--surprisingly--are most reprints of this title:
The 19th century saw numerous important works published on printing, including Thomas Curson Hansard's Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing (1825); William Savage's A Dictionary of the Art of Printing (1841) and John Southward's Practical Printing, A Handbook of the Art of Typography (1882):
An excellent recent title that summarizes and contextualizes many of these early printing manuals is Richard Gabriel-Rummonds' 2-vol. Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress (2004):
Tomorrow, we will look at a few of the more important journals that are relevant to printing....
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