COURTESY
CHESTER, Vt. — Whiting Library is pleased to offer a limited edition letter press print of The Whiting Library. The image used for the print is from a plate in the Library’s archive dating to around 1900. The original engraved plate was produced by acid etching on copper. To our knowledge this plate has not been printed since then.
Lew Watters and his grandson Guiron Lake worked together using Lew’s Kelsey clamshell letterpress to produce a set of 25 prints. During the printing process ink is transferred from platen by rollers to the copper plate. Paper is carefully positioned and aligned. Plate and paper meet under precise pressure to create the impression. Due to the nature of clamshell printing each print has unique characteristics due to inking and impression transfer. The image is printed on Arches hot press paper using Speedball water-based ink and is approximately six inches square.
Through Lew and Guiron’s generous donation of talent and materials Whiting Library will be selling these prints to enable archival restoration of the contents of our “Vermont Room”. The materials housed there are invaluable to historians and genealogists, and are in need of repair and preservation.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.