For the reopening of the Bibliographical Press on the first floor of Sterling Memorial Library, our office designed aprons for use during printing workshops. Black provides a dramatic contrast to the red and sand-colored letters. The design emblazoned on the chest references the mechanical requirements of letterpress printing, which involves locking the type block into a rectangular “chase.” The words are set in the Yale typeface, which is drawn from the same source as Bembo, one of the premier book types of the past 100 years.
The press itself has been a teaching tool at Yale for more than 75 years. It, together with the printing presses in Jonathan Edwards, Davenport, and Silliman Colleges, continues the tradition of student printing at Yale.
For more information on press resources or upcoming workshops, please visit http://guides.library.yale.edu/bibpress.