Over the holiday, a brand spanking new (old) Monarch Press was unearthed and went up for sale. Anyone that’s been shopping for one knows that a good working tabletop press is hard to find, and even more so when it comes with a larger chase size. I actually wasn’t shopping for another press at the time, but it was a deal I could not pass up and I had to see it with my own eyes. I made arrangements to meet the seller, John, and as I walked up his driveway, I spied her. There she was, beaming in John’s back yard, waiting to be taken home.

My jaw dropped as I assessed the condition of the 9×12 Craftsmen Monarch staring back at me. Sans rollers, this little gem had been hiding for decades with an unused ink disk, original orange paint job, working gripper bars and great rails. She also came with 3 chases and a full case of 36pt Futura Bold lead type. Score!

Along with a little dust and minimal surface rust here and there, the press came with 2 gauge pins in place, as well as both the feed board and delivery board in excellent condition.

We had to temporarily leave some Christmas presents behind to make room for the Monarch. “Madame Butterfly” was a 5 minute drive from my old stomping ground. Could there be a 8×12 old style treadle press hiding somewhere nearby?

This year, I asked my Secret Santa for vintage wood type for Christmas. Goofy, yes, I know. My sister-in-law, Angie, read my wishlist and personally hand picked these vintage pieces of wood type as a Christmas present for me. Apparently, she lives next to an antique/junk shop that happens to have a bunch of letterpress type laying around. Lucky her. Here’s to the start of a great wood type collection!

Also, a few weeks ago, I had put out a wanted ad on BriarPress for some new to slightly used Pilot rollers. I received a few responses, but one offer was the best. My barely used Pilot-sized Super Rollers, bought from Paul F., arrived in time for a photo with the Christmas tree. Along with the delivery were a set of roller bearers and an ounce of copper spacers. Yay!

TEMPORARY HOME

My search is finally over, he’s out of my car, and I just couldn’t wait to sift through all the extras that he came with. Here he is, Lieutenant Price, sitting stoutly in his temporary new home in our garage. I still need to dust him off and gather an inventory of my newly acquired letterpress supplies.

LARGE FONT TEST

More importantly, I need to carve him out a new home up in our studio office, but even before doing that, I need to figure out what table we can use that is strong enough to carry the load of 200+ pounds.

BLIND FIRST PULL

I was given several large fonts and I could not wait to test one of them out. Through a series of specific visual questions on identifont.com, I was able to confirm that this font is Kabel by Rudolf Koch. Nice, clean, simple, modern, and also the favorite font of its previous owner at Tooknap Press.

At this point, I have all I need to start printing except for brand new sexy letterpress grade paper and some clean-up supplies. Here’s a shot of my first test, a blind pull on a piece of Fox River Starwhite paper.

Exciting times ahead.