BISCUIT
CITY PRESS ARCHIVES
1970-1992
MSG# 177
HISTORICAL NOTE
“The
Biscuit City Press exists because of the delight I derive from its
product. I seek to print a
page that is not only pleasant to the eye but also to the touch, so that the
choice of paper and the bite of the letterpress into the sheet are as
important as the design of the printed matter.
But, above all, the Biscuit City Press exists because of the sheer
pleasure I derive from setting type by hand and from printing with my old
Albion Press."
-Robert M. Gutchen
The
Biscuit City Press had its inception after Professor Robert Gutchen, a
professor of English History at the University
of
Rhode Island, purchased a Kelsey five by eight hand platen press in 1969.
The printing establishment was named after the street on which he
resided in Kingston,
Rhode Island. His first production, printed on
January 31, 1970, was the program for the New England Historical Association annual
meeting
. He and members of his family
used the Kelsey press until 1972.
While Professor Gutchen and his
family were in England, in
1971, he purchased from the Excelsior Printers’ Supply Co. a Harrild
& Sons Albion, 16” x 11” press, No. 2521 dated 1870.
“The very first pull taken on the new Albion Press of the Biscuit
City Press; done at 3:10 p.m. on Sunday March 19, 1972 at 7 Benford Rd,
Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire in the presence of the entire Gutchen
family” (Notebook, Vol.1). After
this, the
Albion
became the principal hand press for creating ephemera and book
productions. He would later go
on to purchase a Vandercook SP15 proof press, an engraving press, book
binding presses and paper making equipment.
His wife, Sylvia, was involved in many of the productions of the
press. He also collaborated
with University Professors Paul Petrie (a poet) and Fritz Eichenberg (a wood
engraver) in printing their works.
Professor Robert Gutchen was as
meticulous in keeping records of his printing as he was in the pieces he
printed. Samples
of all his printing from the mundane to the exquisite were kept in a series
of notebooks (see Series I and II). Each
piece is identified by at least the hand press used, date, paper and type
face. Sometimes quantity or other
anecdotal information is included with the pieces.
In 1976, Bob joined Professor
David Maslyn in establishing the New Leaves Press in the University Library, Special Collections Unit. To celebrate the Bicentennial, the library purchased an 1841
Albion
hand press, 33” x 32”, from the same dealer in London,
England. Professors’ Masyln and
Gutcher team-taught a library graduate credit course in fine letter/press
printing for three years. The
New Leaves Press still functions with the addition of an Adams Acorn and Washington
(circa 1830’s) hand presses.
The Biscuit City Press ceased
production of major works by 1983, a victim of the computer age. The last publication was in 1990. Professor Gutchen started devoting his spare time to computer
designed type faces and other facets of computer printing.
His Albion
and the Press archives were given to the Library’s Special Collection
Unit in 2004.
All of the major Biscuit City
Press publications are owned by the library. The works are
cataloged in the Rare Books Collection and are
described in the online catalog HELIN (http://library.uri.edu/).
Search under the name of the Press in the “Author” or “Keyword” .
