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 May 2024 | |
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| Established | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Location | Ransley St, Penrith, New South Wales 2750 Australia |
| Type | Printing museum |
| Founder | Alan Connell |
| President | Bob Lockley |
| Website | www |
The Penrith Museum of Printing is a museum in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia with a focus on Australian letterpress printing equipment and techniques. [1]
In 1987 Alan Connell (1922–2020), a retired employee of the now defunct printing company The Nepean Times , after walking past the building of the old Nepean Times in Station Street, saw that the equipment used the publication of the newspaper were still there, after 25 years of disuse. He asked the then-owner if he could have some of old equipment to preserve the heritage. The machines where stored and other letterpress equipment was added. The Museum was officially opened on 2 June 2001 by Jackie Kelly, MP for Lindsay, the then Minister for Sport and Tourism as well as with the support of industry organisations and a Commonwealth Government Federation Fund Grant.
In September 2017 the Penrith Museum of Printing closed its doors for a major upgrade and added 150 m2 to their premises including the addition of a foyer and a library. The $130,000 (AUD) upgrade has given more space to show all working machines and equipment. The museum was reopened by Penrith Councillor Brian Cartwright in November 2018.
The Penrith Museum of Printing houses a collection of fully operational letterpress machinery and equipment. A number of the items in the collection are over 150 years old and are still functioning. The objective of the museum is to have all equipment and machinery up and running for all to see and experience. The Penrith Museum of Printing currently has several early 1900 Linotype and Intertype line cast machines, a Columbian press from 1841, a Albion from 1864, the Nepean Times Wharfedale stop cylinder press from around 1880, Chandler & Price, Arab and Pearl treadle presses, Heidelberg platen and a Miehle vertical cylinder press.
The museum featured in the 2018 film Ladies in Black , where it was used to simulate the Sydney Morning Herald's compositors' room. [2]
| Item | Utilised | Year | Serial Number | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linotype model 5 | line composing | 1902 | The NEV after Neville James who restored it. Believed to come from Colin McPherson, NSW, Australia | |
| Linotype model 8 | line composing | 1922 | 31963 | Nepean Times newspaper 1887–1985, Penrith, NSW, Australia |
| Intertype C3 | line composing | 1935 | 31418 | Saxon Press Commercial Printer, Bexley, NSW, Australia |
| Intertype C4 | line composing | 1942 | 27498 | Donated by Tony Mercier, Mercier Typesetters and was formally owned by Conte & Ruggier. Used to produce local France newspaper Le Courrier Australien and the France-Australian trade magazine France-Australie |
| Ludlow | type composing | M16742 | ||
| Edwards & Dunlop | proofing press | Sydney, NSW, Australia | ||
| Vandercook | proofing press | 25458 | ||
| Common Press | Wooden hand press | 1770 | donated by Richard Jermyn Eden, NSW, Australia | |
| Columbian | Hand press | 1841 | 937 | Carcoar Chronicle until 1939, donated by Fairfax, NSW, Australia |
| Albion | Hand press | 1864 | 1644 | Donated by Hannanprint, NSW. It was originally owned by Angus & Coote, Jewellers, and used to proof their catalogues before printing until its purchase and restoration by Neil Mulvaney of Champion Press. |
| Wharfedale | Stop cylinder press | ~1880 | Nepean Times newspaper, Penrith, NSW, Australia 1887–1962 | |
| Chandler & Price | Treadle press | |||
| Arab | Treadle press | |||
| Pearl | Treadle press | Saxon Press Commercial Printer, Bexley, NSW, Australia | ||
| Emil Kahle | small hand press | ~1910 | Gearside, Lithgow, NSW, Australia | |
| Adana (several) | small hand press | |||
| Heidelberg platen | automated press | ~1935 | 31834 E | Saxon Press Commercial Printer, Bexley, NSW, Australia |
| Heidelberg platen | automated press | 1966 | T 161604 E | School Graphic Arts, Sydney 1966–2010, Sydney, NSW, Australia |
| Miele vertical | automated press | 1966 | V16033 | |
| Gestener Duplicator SP20 | duplicator | ~1935 | 25458 | Hannanprint, NSW, Australia |
The Penrith Museum of Printing has an extensive collection of books, manuals, documents and other letterpress printing artefacts which are all available for viewing.
While the Museum does not loan books or items from its collection, it is open to view and or study this collection during opening hours.
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The earliest known form of printing evolved from ink rubbings made on paper or cloth from texts on stone tablets, used during the sixth century. Printing by pressing an inked image onto paper appeared later that century. Later developments in printing technology include the movable type invented by Bi Sheng around 1040 AD and the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. The technology of printing played a key role in the development of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses.
Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevation is 32 metres (105 ft).
Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing for producing many copies by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against individual sheets of paper or a continuous roll of paper. A worker composes and locks movable type into the "bed" or "chase" of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it to transfer the ink from the type, which creates an impression on the paper.
The Nepean River, is a major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River, and, continuing by its downstream name, the Hawkesbury River, almost encircles the metropolitan region of Sydney.
Emu Plains is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.
The Museum of Printing (MoP), located in Haverhill, Massachusetts, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of printing technologies and practices, the graphic arts, and their role in the development of culture and literacy.
Kingswood is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is 52 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith. There are various other locations within the state of New South Wales that are also called Kingswood, and is often confused with the nearby suburb of Kingswood Park.
Werrington is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 49.3 kilometres (30.6 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.
The City of Penrith is a local government area in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The seat of the city is located in Penrith, located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Sydney's central business district. It occupies part of the traditional lands of the Darug people. First incorporated as a municipality on 12 May 1871, on 1 January 1949, the municipalities of Penrith, St Marys and Castlereagh and part of the Nepean Shire amalgamated to form a new Municipality of Penrith. Penrith was declared a City on 21 October 1959, and expanded westwards to include Emu Plains and Emu Heights, formerly part of the City of Blue Mountains, on 25 October 1963. As of the 2021 census the City of Penrith had an estimated population of 217,664.
St Marys is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith.
The Penrith Whitewater Stadium is located near Sydney, Australia. It is an artificial whitewater sporting facility which hosted the canoe/kayak slalom events at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The facility is part of the Penrith Lakes Scheme, which is converting open-pit sand and gravel mines into lakes for recreation. It is close to Cranebrook and is adjacent to the Sydney International Regatta Centre. These lakes are not filled via the Nepean River, but are filled via rain water and ground water. The operation of the facility aerates the water and improves water quality in the flat water rowing and canoeing course.
The Type Archive was a collection of artefacts representing the legacy of type founding in England, whose famous type foundries and composing systems supplied the world with type in over 300 languages. The Archive was founded in 1992 by Susan Shaw in Stockwell, South London. The Archive announced in mid-2022 that it would relinquish its building and return portions of its collections to other institutions.
The Columbian press is a type of hand-operated printing press invented in the United States by George Clymer, around 1813. Made from cast iron, it was a very successful design and many thousands were made by him and by others during the 19th century. Columbians continued to be made as late as the early-20th century, 90 years after their introduction. Despite their age, many are still used for printing, especially by artists who make prints using traditional methods.
The Ben Lane Print Shop is a demonstration site at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, in the United States.
The Yaldhurst Museum is located in the suburb of Yaldhurst, Christchurch, New Zealand, close to Christchurch International Airport, Riccarton Race Course and Ruapuna Speedway. The museum has a large collection of road transport vehicles, and it opened to the public in 1968.
The International Printing Museum has one of the largest collections of antique printing presses in the United States. It offers educational programs for school groups at the museum, and also has a Ben-Franklin-type printing press on a trailer that travels to schools and public events for living history programs.
The Nepean Times was a weekly newspaper first published in the Australian city of Penrith, New South Wales on 3 March 1882.
Harrild & Sons Limited is a defunct British manufacturer of printing machinery and supplies. The company was founded in 1809 by Robert Harrild at Norwich Street, London, and closed down in 1949. The company helped to establish the use in London of composition rollers instead of ink balls to ink the printing plates.
Caddens is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a new masterplanned residential neighborhood located 48 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith featuring views of the scenic Blue Mountains. The suburb's postcode is 2747.
The Original Heidelberg Platen Press was a letterpress printing press manufactured by the Heidelberger Druckmaschinen company in Germany. It was often referred to as the Heidelberg Windmill, after the shape and movement of its paper feed system. When introduced, it was also called the "Super Heidelberg" or the "Super Speed".
