Draft:Patrick Reagh

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Draft:Patrick Reagh

Patrick Reagh is an American printer, typographer, type founder, book designer, publisher, and educator. Based in Sebastopol, California, Patrick Reagh Printers is a combined printing office and type foundry specializing in letterpress printing, Monotype composition, metal type casting, and fine book production.

Reagh is known for his contributions to fine press printing, Monotype composition, and type founding in the United States. His career spans the transition from hot-metal composition to digital publishing. In a 1987 profile published by the Los Angeles Times, journalist Esther Schrader described Reagh as a "master of a craft," while printer and publisher Ward Ritchie called him "the finest printer in Southern California."[1]

Early life

Reagh's interest in printing began in 1959 at the age of eleven when he received a used 3×5 Kelsey tabletop press as a Christmas gift from his parents. Together with his father, he established the Mustard Seed Press, which operated from a large bedroom in the family's home. There he assembled a growing collection of type, ornaments, and printing equipment, frequently spending his allowance at LA Type and Rule (Los Angeles Type Founders), where type was sold by the pound. Through his father's friendship with Saul and Lillian Marks of the Plantin Press, Reagh became acquainted with one of California's most influential printing establishments and was introduced to the traditions of fine typography at an early age.[2]

As the Mustard Seed Press expanded, Reagh continued printing beyond his family home and established printing operations in Los Angeles before beginning his professional career in the trade.[2]

Early career

In 1968 Reagh began a five-year apprenticeship as a union type compositor at Andresen Typographics.[2] There he worked during a period when the printing industry was transitioning from hot-metal composition to phototypesetting, gaining experience with both traditional and emerging technologies. Reagh later recalled that the most valuable lesson he learned was the discipline of meeting deadlines, as compositors routinely worked late into the night until every urgent job had been completed.[2]

After attaining journeyman status, Reagh temporarily stepped away from the printing trade to pursue music, performing as a pianist with various Latin jazz ensembles throughout the Los Angeles area.[2]

Plantin Press

Following the death of Saul Marks in 1974, Lillian Marks hired Reagh to work at the Plantin Press.[2] During his years there he learned the principles of classical typography, book design, and fine presswork. Reagh later described this period as the time when he learned how finely printed books were designed and produced.[2]

When the Plantin Press ceased commercial operations in 1981, Reagh acquired much of its equipment and established an independent practice. After a one-year partnership with printer and publisher Vance Gerry, he founded Patrick Reagh Printers.[2]

By the mid-1980s, Reagh was operating one of the few remaining all-letterpress printing establishments in Southern California.[1] Author, historian, and printer Ward Ritchie selected him to print Fine Printing: The Los Angeles Tradition for the Library of Congress and described him as "the finest printer in Southern California."[1]

Patrick Reagh Printers

In 1995 Reagh relocated his operation from Southern California to Sebastopol, California.[2] Situated among the redwood forests of Sonoma County, the workshop functions as both a printing office and type foundry.

The facility houses four Monotype casting machines, including a Supercaster and three composition casters, as well as an Elrod machine used for casting leads and slugs. Reagh maintains a substantial collection of matrices capable of casting numerous typefaces, including Bembo, Ehrhardt, Fournier, Bulmer, Baskerville, Janson, Gill Sans, Univers, and others.[2]

Although best known for his expertise in hot-metal composition, Reagh has also embraced photopolymer technology. His shop combines traditional metal type with photopolymer plates, many of which he produces himself.[2]

The pressroom includes a Vandercook SP-15 proof press, a Colts Armory 10×15 hand-fed platen press, a Heidelberg 10×15 Windmill, and a 28-inch Heidelberg Cylinder press. The original Kelsey 3×5 press that launched Reagh's printing career remains in the foundry.[2]

Work

Throughout his career, Reagh has designed and printed books, broadsides, ephemera, keepsakes, bibliographies, and commercial letterpress work. His clients have included prominent literary figures such as John Cheever, Tennessee Williams, John Updike, Walker Percy, and Ursula K. Le Guin.[1] He has also completed projects for publishers, collectors, cultural institutions, and international clients, including a finely printed presentation volume commissioned for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. [1]

In addition to producing printed works, Reagh has cast type and supplied typographic materials to private presses, libraries, educational institutions, and printers throughout North America.[2]

His work has been represented in publications and projects associated with the Book Club of California and other organizations devoted to printing history and the book arts.[3]

Selected publications

  • The Plantin Press of Saul & Lillian Marks: A Bibliography
  • Fine Printing: The Los Angeles Tradition (printer)
  • A Voyage to California, the Sandwich Islands, and Around the World in the Years 1826–1829 (printer)
  • Jasper O'Farrell: Surveyor, Farmer and Politician (printer)
  • Publications and keepsakes produced for the Book Club of California

Music

In addition to his work as a printer, Reagh has maintained a lifelong interest in music and jazz. During the 1970s he performed as a pianist with Latin jazz bands in the Los Angeles area.[2]

A 1987 profile in the Los Angeles Times noted Reagh's attraction to the sounds of printing machinery, describing his appreciation for the "music of the presses."[1]

Awards and recognition

Reagh has received numerous honors for his contributions to printing and book design, including Western Books Awards, the Carl Hertzog Award, and the Oscar Lewis Award from the Book Club of California.[2]

Archives

The archives of Patrick Reagh are preserved in the Patrick Reagh Papers, held by the UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library and made available through the Online Archive of California.[4]

Legacy

Reagh is associated with the continuation of letterpress printing, Monotype composition, and type founding in the United States. Through his printing office, publications, teaching, and type-casting activities, he has contributed to the preservation and transmission of traditional printing knowledge into the twenty-first century.

His career bridges multiple generations of printing technology, from hand composition and hot-metal typesetting to photopolymer and digital workflows.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Schrader, Esther (1 November 1987). "Print Shop Master Drawn to the Music of Clacking Presses". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "About". Patrick Reagh Printers.
  3. ^ "Summer Book Sale". Book Club of California.
  4. ^ "Patrick Reagh Papers, 1981–2003". Online Archive of California.

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