Kindle Price: $5.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the authors

David Hughes
Follow
David Hughes
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Printers' Tales Kindle Edition

by David Hughes (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
See all formats and editions
Printers Tales is a compilation of over 30 stories, from various authors, about the printing industry in the pre-digital age.
Before computers became common-place in the late 1970s, to produce a printed page required the skill and expertise of a multitude of time-served craftsmen.
Compositors worked with lead type to create words letter by letter. Paper was pressed on to inked letters to reproduce words and sentences. Many of these skills have long-since been forgotten.
This compilation brings together memories of the printing and newspaper industries from that era.
A lot of the stories involve the Linotype machine, a mechanical typesetting machine, that was used to produce newspapers, and other publications, from the 1880s until the computer revolution of the 1970s/80s.
There are stories, poems and limericks from authors from the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand, all of whom share a common workplace experience.
From tales from American "tramp printers" who were able to travel the length and breadth of the United States working on various newspapers on the way, to the unique language and terminology used by compositors on a London Fleet Street "companionship" and lots of stories in between.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    102 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    September 5, 2012
  5. File size
    205 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0096U8B10
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 5, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 205 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 102 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. David Hughes

    David Hughes

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    David Hughes trained as a letterpress typesetter in the 1970s, gaining a (now obsolete) City and Guilds qualification at Kitson College of Technology in Leeds, UK.

    He worked on the Evening Press in York and the South London Press as a Linotype operator. After retraining on the computerised "new technology" he hung up his apron in the early 90s, mainly due to boredom!

    He keeps in touch with the letterpress scene through his printers' nostalgia website "Metal Type" and keeps up with the practical side of things producing letterpress business cards at Metal Type Printing.

    See more on the author's page
  2. David Hughes

    David Hughes

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    David Hughes trained as a letterpress typesetter in the 1970s, gaining a (now obsolete) City and Guilds qualification at Kitson College of Technology in Leeds, UK.

    He worked on the Evening Press in York and the South London Press as a Linotype operator. After retraining on the computerised "new technology" he hung up his apron in the early 90s, mainly due to boredom!

    He keeps in touch with the letterpress scene through his printers' nostalgia website "Metal Type."

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
6 global ratings

Top review from the United States

David L. Kent
4.0 out of 5 stars Printers' Tales
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
Invaluable accounts from printers around the world; a real contribution to printing history. These are original, not reprints from other books or previously published accounts. Highly recommended for letterpress printers, or anyone interested in the current behind-the-scenes operation of Gutenberg's invention of five centuries ago.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Memories revived
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2012
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the trip back into the world of hot metal in Printers' Tales. There were a few words in the glossary that I hadn't come across but they were from American authors. I was even astonished to find some of my own contributions among others of high quality, by authors from around the world. They certainly brought into my mind images of Linotypes and Intertypes (both of which I operated until the ubiquitous Macintosh computer changed everything for ever). Anyone who has a father or grandfather who worked among hot metal will have something here to throw a light onto their lives. Thoroughly enjoyable. - Mike Wilson
Report
PeterGriffin
5.0 out of 5 stars WAYZGOOSE of tales!
Reviewed in Australia on February 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Great book, David . . . Just nuttin' like a good Wayzgoose, with keg ginger beer!
Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2015
Verified Purchase
Good read, interesting history
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report