Letterpress Printed Tolkien Quote

Two weeks ago, I took a letterpress intensive class at my local book arts center and learned to print on a Vandercook Universal I. We also learned to hand-set type, something I have never done before. (Note: Don't lick your fingers while setting lead type. Just a suggestion.)

Our final project was to hand-set a 3-4 line quote and insert a drop cap. While we didn't need to print in 2 colors, I thought it would be fun. The red is inked by hand as a second run through the press: I printed the black text first, with the drop cap removed and spacing in it's place, then I replaced the drop cap, removed the text, locked everything up again, and printed each sheet a second time. It's a lot of work for a little run of 6 prints, but worth it all.

Loved the class.

Check out the attachments for the full view.

All the type is way older than I am; the capitals are probably older than Tolkien himself.