S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 7 1 trends I Ink runs in this city’s blood. Paper from Maine forests has turned brilliant ideas into stunning books and documents for centuries. Even given the relentless, ephemeral nature of information in our digital age, it’s little sur- prise that the deliberate and tactile art of printmaking is thriving. You may have noticed how the trend subtly pervades daily life in the Forest City. Menus incite hunger with delicious type, wedding invitations are stamped into heavy paper, and business cards are being crafted so artfully that Patrick Bateman, the American Psycho, would be incensed with envy. Keep an eye out for Gus & Ruby, the Portland letterpress shop that recently opened an outpost on Ex- change Street. But recent history tells us this is no flash-in-the-pan trend. The city houses a number of individuals for whom the traditional practice of printmaking is a lifelong fascination–and an art form. Today’s burgeoning print scene is fresh growth from established roots. In 1875, the Rev. Francis Southworth launched Southworth Press as a means to distrib- ute religious documents to sailors (who may have benefited from some divine intervention). The company was renamed the Anthoensen Press in 1934 after it was bought by Fred An- thoensen, a Danish printer who began as Southworth’s apprentice. Fred’s vision and dedica- tion to rare typography and design cemented the press’s reputation nationwide as a standard- bearer of high-quality print production. The high-toned Boston Athenaeum published its numbers here, resulting in our city be- coming an international intellectual magnet. According to USM’s special collections, which prizes original manuscripts and ephemera from Anthoensen, “For most of the 20th centu- ry, the Press was located at 105 Middle Street. A fire in 1970 temporarily shut down the press, causing some smoke and water damage to their rare types and the office collection of the books they had produced.” Undaunted, “The Anthoensen Press moved to a new location on Exchange Street.” Having survived fire, the company was less prepared for dramatic changes in technology in the 1980s which replaced the exacting nature of letterpress–even its adroitness–with a rapid evo- lution of computer alternatives. Anthoensen limped along until 1987. Despite its departure, the legacy of traditional print lingers. If you want to see the ghostly residue of Anthoensen’s painted signage on a brick wall in the Old Port, just have a beer on the Thirsty Pig deck. Which brings us to the crafty print merchants of today. Inked Designers used to maneuvering a mouse will be stopped short by the sight of Wolfe Edition’s 2,000-square-foot workshop on the first floor of a 100-year-old former bakery on Over 300 years since the printing press came to America, the craft is experiencing a renaissance, with Maine at the epicenter. blair best “ wood type