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employees; for I never wore a wig nor
                                             leggings, nor a hat, at work. It is a nicely
                                             reproduced illustration with a male
                                             compositor and a lady compositor with her
                                             daughter hanging on to her skirt – again
                                             not in my days: the NGA would not have
                                             allowed that and presumably the man
                                             kneeling by the tub of water is damping the
                                             paper in readiness for printing. But what
                                             of the actual press? The skeleton tympan
                                             looks odd to me and what is the cord which
                                             runs from the ceiling over the tympan and
                                             attached to the right foot of the operator all
                                             about? No doubt cleverer people than I will
                                             have the answer. Perhaps it is a device used
                                             in Holland, as I see the artist is Mr Abraham
                                             von Werdt, who wasn’t averse to scattering
                                             his initials around his work as I discovered
                                             he has included them twice in addition to
                                             his full name.
                                                The inside back cover lists the Branch
                                             members, whom I would like to complement
                                             and thank for a most interesting publication.
                                             It has caused me much fun in trying to
                                             answer the many questions you posed –
                                             intentionally, I wonder? If so it was an
                                             imaginative way to create an enjoyable read.
                 Alan Brignull - Essex
       of snow (which is where the shovel comes   Essex Branch entry:
       in, I presume). What is the fl ight of fancy?   ‘Essex Flora and Fauna’
       Making lots of dough by clearing people’s
       paths, I imagine. Or am I completely wrong?   ssex Branch contributed a 15 page
       I can’t believe it but once again you have   A5 booklet, Wire-O bound in portrait
       given the reviewer his own fl ight of fancy. As   Elayout. It comprises a mixture of
       I sit back in my chair and look at this page   stocks ranging from 80gsm tinted bond to
       from a distance the silver snowman on the   300 micron white board. Using a variety
       blue/green paper shines out and gives me a   of printing techniques from hand-set
       huge smile which cheers me up no end, as   letterpress to full colour (litho and digital),
       does the whole of this Dorset Booklet.  the overall eff ect is pleasing. I felt that
         Not quite the end, but the last leaf is   the irregular mix of stocks led to a slight
       a fascinating copy of an engraving of   diffi  culty in turning the pages, but all pages
       how a 17th century printing offi  ce would   were carefully trimmed before binding,
       have looked. I can confi rm that a mid-  which helped the ‘usability’ considerably.
       20th century printery would have looked     Now for the detail. Ron Rookes has put
       very similar, except for the dress of the   in fi ve pages, mostly covers and contents
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