Ink Looks Better on Paper

A dagger (†) is a symbol used in typography to indicate a footnote if an asterisk has previously been used. A double dagger (‡) with two crosses routinely indicates a third footnote.

Double Dagger is also the title of a 12pp broadsheet newspaper printed, according to People of Print, by “letterpress on a Heidelberg SBB Cylinder Press using type that has been machine set on a Monotype Composition Caster. This publication looks at the role of letterpress in the digital age as seen through the eyes of some of its most ardent practitioners. Double Dagger has been … entirely printed from hot-metal, wood and laser-cut type. The Monotype Caster, invented by Tolbert Lanston at the end of the 18th century, enabled the ability to produce individual hot-metal characters at a rate of three per second in justified or unjustified galleys of type. This was a breakthrough that spread beyond the worlds of publishing and printing.”

Issue 2 (Autumn 2017), edited and published by Pat Randle and Nick Loaring in the UK, is an homage to the venerable art of printing. Recently, it was a choice selection by the folks at Stack Magazines, the incomparable subscription service for indie newspapers and magazines. An interview with Randle can be found here. Don’t miss it.