Ad Lib Press
Since 1965, the Ad Lib Press has operated as a private press, creating a variety of kinds of printed materials, from small ephemera and notecards to books. The "Prop." (Proprietor) has long been interested in the design of type and the way it is used and enjoys playing with its arrangement on the page and the color and choice of accompanying graphics.
The Ad Lib Press equipment collection includes a #11 Golding Pearl, a 6x9 Sigwalt "Nonpareil" tabletop lever press that has been the workhorse of the shop for many years, and a Poco proof press. The hand-set type collection focuses on Frederic Goudy's Deepdene type face, but there are also many antique and reproduction antique type faces as well as other more modern ones. In addition, we have about 5 fonts of antique wood poster type ranging in size from 1 to 4 inches high. A miscellany of antique ornaments and engravings rounds out the eclectic collection.
The Prop. has also taught printing and the book arts at a number of venues, including the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, the Penland School of Crafts, and the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshops. These courses have included paper marbling and bookbinding in addition to the mainstays of typographic design, typesetting, and printing, as well as a survey of printing history. Having become interested in hand presses early on, I have created and maintained the Worldwide Hand Press Database, which in early 2024 records more than 2370 hand presses around the world, almost all made of cast iron.