BookPresses

Cambridge, USA · est. 1978

Bow & Arrow Press

Harvard's longstanding letterpress printing studio, founded in Adams House and named for the corner of Bow and Arrow Streets. In 1993 it printed the first edition of Seamus Heaney's poems 'Keeping Going'.

Visit adamshouse.harvard.edu Active

About the press

Founded in 1978 in Harvard's Adams House, the Bow & Arrow Press became the university's center of letterpress printing. After leaving Adams House in 2023 during the House Renewal program, the press found a permanent home with Harvard Library, where it operates in Lamont Library under the Houghton Library Printing and Graphic Arts department.

Notable titles

  • Keeping Going by Seamus Heaney (first edition, 1993)

Kindred presses

Abattoir Editions (University of Nebraska Omaha)

Omaha, USA est. 1972

Fine-press letterpress imprint founded in 1972 by printer and publisher Harry Duncan at the University of Nebraska Omaha, publishing mainly poetry as a tool for teaching the book arts.

  • Letterpress
  • Fine press
  • Typography

Aralia Press

West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA est. 1983

Printing contemporary poetry from hand-set type, letterpress-printed and hand-bound, with a teaching component for students at West Chester University.

  • Letterpress
  • Fine press
  • Private press
  • +2

Arion Press

San Francisco, USA est. 1974

The only US printer making books entirely by hand from comma to cover under one roof, operating its own M&H hot-metal type foundry, letterpress workshop, and bindery as successor to the Grabhorn Press.

  • Letterpress
  • Fine press
  • Private press
  • +2