The Gregynog Press, also known as Gwasg Gregynog, is a printing press and charity located at Gregynog Hall near Newtown in Powys,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Early years

Founded in 1922 by the sisters and art patrons

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

and Gwendoline Davies, guided by Thomas Jones, the press was named after their mansion

Gregynog Hall Gregynog () is a large country mansion in the village of Tregynon, northwest of Newtown in the old county of Montgomeryshire, now Powys in mid Wales. There has been a settlement on the site since the twelfth century. From the fifteenth to th ...

.Harrop, Dorothy A. ''A History of the Gregynog Press''. Pinner: Private Libraries Association, 1980 Jones remained its chairman throughout its existence. It rose to prominence in the pre-war era as among the more important

private press Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on design, grap ...

es, publishing

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

books, primarily on a Victoria platen

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

. Much of the printing work from 1927 to 1936 was carried out by the skilled printer Herbert John Hodgson,History of Gwasg Gregynog and the Gregynog Press
at Gwasg Gregynog website who had previously worked on the 1926 edition of the T. E. Lawrence's '' Seven Pillars of Wisdom''. The American poet and printer Loyd Haberly was briefly the controller of the press. It commissioned a private typeface from

Graily Hewitt William Graily Hewit or Graily Hewitt (1864–1952) was a British novelist and calligrapher, second only to Edward Johnston in importance to the revival of calligraphy in the country at the turn of the twentieth century. Biography Hewitt was ...

, ''Gwendolin'', dated 1935. It was manufactured as a private commission by Monotype.

Reincarnation as Gwasg Gregynog

In 1954 after the death of Gwendoline Davies, Margaret donated most of the machinery used by Gregynog Press to the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million ...

. The press was reopened under the Welsh title ''Gwasg Gregynog'' by the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

in 1978, and production resumed. While the National Library permanently loaned the Press its original Victoria platen press in 1980, since 1986 it has primarily printed with a Heidelberg Cylinder Press.

Typesetting Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random ...

of the smallest pieces is done by hand, but otherwise manuscripts are typeset with the use of a Monotype machine. Among the publications of the press are a series of pamphlets entitled "Beirdd Gregynog / Gregynog Poets": the first of these was Euros Bowen's ''Yr Alarch'', 1987. Gwasg Gregynog Limited is a company limited by guarantee which was incorporated on 28 June 1978. It adopted new Memorandum and Articles of Association on 28 August 2001 and was granted charitable status by the Charity Commission on 11 January 2002 (charity no. 1090060). Intended to benefit and educate the public, it offers lectures related to the press and printing techniques, as well as offering tours of press facilities, which are dedicated to maintaining traditional printing methods. The press has been involved in several historic events in Wales in connection with the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. When the Assembly opened in Wales, the press produced its first documents, including a small hand-bound souvenir volume that served as the Assembly's first publication. Later, in 2006, it bound a poem commissioned to mark the opening of the

Senedd The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...

, the Assembly's permanent home, and written in calligraphy.

Notes

External links

* *{{EW charity, 1090060 Publishing companies established in 1922 Arts in Wales Book arts Printing companies of the United Kingdom Printmaking groups and organizations Charities based in Wales Book publishing companies of Wales Companies based in Powys British companies established in 1922 Private press movement

Early years

Reincarnation as Gwasg Gregynog

Notes

Further reading

External links