Press room

North light, iron, paper

The atelier is a still life that moves: cases opened, rollers inked, sheets hung. Photographs here are records of process, not a showroom catalogue.

The press room with iron machines, type cabinets, and drying racks — The room, looking toward the street windows

The floor

Two presses, one stone

A cylinder proof press for broadsides and ketubah sheets; a smaller platen for cards and plates. Both are iron, both are maintained in the building, and both are too heavy to treat as décor. The imposing stone sits between them. Forms travel from case to galley to chase to bed.

We ink by hand. The smell in the room is linseed, not solvent. Windows stay open when the weather allows; in winter the north light is the only extravagance. Visitors who wish to see a make-ready should write ahead — Friday mornings are short, and Saturday the door is locked.

Tours are not a public programme. A commission in progress is the usual reason to stand at the stone.

Hands setting Hebrew sorts into a composing stick — Plate II — Composition

Freshly printed sheet on the press bed — Plate III — First impression

Printed sheets hanging on a drying rack — Plate IV — Drying rack

Close view of metal Hebrew type locked in a chase — Plate V — Locked form

Process

From copy to colophon

Copy

We ask for final wording. Names in Hebrew must be pointed if you want nikkud; Latin names must be spelled as they should appear, including accents. A ketubah requires the officiant’s approved text before we touch the case.

Proof

A first proof is pulled on the same cotton as the edition, or on a cheaper sheet if the form is still moving. Corrections are made in metal, not in a file. You read the language you commissioned.

Run

The edition is printed, counted, and allowed to dry. Oversheets cover spoilage. The colophon, when the job is a broadside, names the press, the paper, and the year.

Cylinder press with a wide sheet registered to the gauges — Cylinder press

Cotton paper stacked beside a bone folder and shears — Paper bench

The atelier is at 11 Bezalel Street, Jerusalem 9458104. Telephone +972 2 625 3381. The door is open Sunday to Thursday 09:30–17:30 and Friday 09:30–13:00.