Greyweathers Press was founded on a love of beautifully designed type skillfully arranged on a well-proportioned page. Our original purpose was solely to print letterpress books, although that ideal has grown to include an interest in creating relief block prints. Editorial emphasis is on the classics, particularly the work of 19th and early 20th century British and American writers and the work of young, unpublished writers. All printing and typesetting is by hand on a Vandercook S-219AB proofing press. Books are bound by hand in a variety of designs and styles.
There is just something about a book printed with lead type on handmade paper that distinguishes it from all others. The printer’s craft, now mostly forgotten, comes into play here, as mastery of the final product involves far more than just a clean functioning press. The printer must also be designer, illustrator, engraver, technician and occasionally inventor.
The first book off the press was Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem, Kubla Khan in 2006. This was followed in the spring of 2007 with a collection of poetry by Kera Willis, and The Vampire and the Seventh Daughter in 2008.
Read "Romancing the Press", a brief account of the first two years of Greyweathers Press, written by Larry Thompson for the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists newsletter in 2007.