Membership
IAPM Members
Project letter-kunde Patrick Goossens
| Address | Korte Gasthuisstraat 31, 2000, Flanders, Antwerp, Belgium |
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| Telephone | 0032 477 27 1980 |
| Website | www.letter-kunde.be |
| Admission/Fee | free |
| Opening Hours | On appointment only |
| (min 100 words, max 400 words) The collection of project letter-kunde originated in the 1970’s with the intention of becoming a Private Press. Soon the emphasis turned to collecting and preserving the heritage of the printing industry, combining the tangible and intangible side. Many already existing private collections were incorporated adding to preserving many complete workshops that also worked in the supporting fields of ‘letterpress’ such as for instance typefoundries. The collection consists of an almost complete overview of the history of the printing press starting with two original wooden (common) presses and over a hundred of nineteenth century iron hand presses, cylinder presses and an exemplary collection of treadle presses. The working printshop uses several proof presses ( Vandercook, Korrex) Heidelberg platen (windmill) and cylinder presses. More specific the collection houses a working laboratory of type casting equipment starting with the world largest private collection of hand moulds, to be completed with several examples of all the major mechanized casting machinery that was invented in the nineteenth century. It currently is the custodian of a representative selection of Stephenson Blake pivotal casting machines, has the whole inventory of the famous Dale Guild (matrices, engraving equipment, Barth and pivotal casters), a complete foundry form India (pivotal casters, matrix making equipment) and the more widely spread machinery like Linotype’s, Intertype’s, Monoline, Ludlow, Typograph, Monotype. The latter with a large library of matrices and the possibility to cast directly from computer file to metal type. The diamond in the crown is the matrix engraving department holding working Benton engravers, Pierpont engravers, and others, completed with all the necessary accoutrements. The intangible heritage is being preserved by giving workshops, tutorials in the field of printing and matrix making. The knowledge has been obtained from following courses in punch cutting at the Imprimerie Nationale in France, tutorials by Theo Rehak from the Dale Guild (former ATF) and former collaborators of large firms like Stempel, Nebiolo… A large library of printing manuals and documentation supports the hardware and opens op research possibilities Currently the proprietor and driving force behind the collection is working on a PhD dealing with print technology in nineteenth century Belgium. He has published on the common press, the Columbian press and has presented at various conferences in Moscow, Bejing, Oxford, London, Antwerp, Chania, Birmingham, Leeds, … |
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Primary Contact Information
| Name | Patrick Goossens |
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| Title/Position | proprietor |
| Telephone | 0032 477 27 1298 |
| Fax | - |
| info@letter-kunde.be |