About the book

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From the margins of medieval manuscripts and printed books to posters, advertisements and direction signs of the 19th century and beyond, the manicule – derived from the Latin manicula, ‘little hand’ – or printer’s fist has been pointing the way for readers for hundreds of years, cajoling us to pay attention. In March 2019 the Making Books Research Centre at Bath Spa University invited today’s letterpress practitioners to submit work inspired by the device: over eighty printers and printmakers took up the challenge to celebrate this universal icon in all its glory. The diversity of submissions is striking, with numerous visual puns but no two puns alike, and the number of fists utilized ranging from zero (!) to 3131 – the latter painstakingly hand-stamped onto 30gsm Washi paper.

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The catalogue, written by the exhibition’s curator Tim Jollands, presents just under a hundred pieces of work alphabetically by exhibitor, featuring short descriptions of the press’s or individual’s letterpress activities alongside photographs of their work spaces, or their work in the making. The smell of ink seems to rise from the page, and A Show of Hands celebrates not only a universal icon but also the craft of letterpress and the skills of its practitioners.

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“One of the best letterpress exhibitions I have ever been to” – Miles Wigfield, Newsletter, Oxford Guild of Printers

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