‘Though an angel should write, / still ’tis devils must print.’
— Thomas Moore (1779–1852)
‘In DA‘s world, people who can operate a nineteenth-century handcranked cast iron printing press are rock stars. Of course, unlike the grubby xeroxed or Gestetnered zines of yesteryear, DA is beautifully printed, with elegant bookmarks, prints, and other little extras inserted in each issue. DA also manages to be full of historical significance.’
Excerpted from ‘History of Printing’ by historian Christopher Moore in Christopher Moore’s History News.
Brian Maloney and the Columbian Press. Robertson Davies Library, Massey College. September 2010. Credit: Don McLeod.
Opening of 'The Nature of Words' Exhibition, New Gallery, Toronto, September 19, 2010. Left to right: Reg Beattie, Mira Coviensky, Wendy Cain, Sigrid Blohm, Will Rueter. Credit: Don McLeod.
Novelist Leon Rooke (l) and Head Coach Stan Bevington, Coach House Press Wayzgoose, Toronto, September 9, 2010. Credit: Don McLeod.
‘Just a note to say how much I’m enjoying DA 61. The cover is beautiful, the illustrations inside are great, and the lead article is rekindling my interest in Carman. I’m recalling a course in Maritime literature from my days at Mount Allison in Sackville, reading Low Tide on Grand Pré. And, of course, I continue to wonder whether any sources exist that might shed light on Carman’s personal or literary erotics. Excellent work all around.’ — Steven Maynard, Professor of History, Queen’s University, Kingston
‘We have been a subscriber forever or since DA began, whichever is longer…. Yours is quite a wonderful little journal.’ — R. Russell Maylone, Curator, Northwestern University Library, Evanston, Illinois
The Devil's Artisan is remarkable in Canadian publishing in that most of the physical production of our journal is completed in-house at the shop on the Main Street of Erin Village. We print on a twenty-five inch Heidelberg KORD, typically onto acid-free Zephyr Antique laid. The sheets are then folded, and sewn into signatures on a 1907 model Smyth National Book Sewing machine.
To take a virtual tour of the pressroom, visit us at YouTube for a discussion of offset printing in general, and the operation of a Heidelberg KORD in particular. Other videos include Four Colour Printing, Smyth Sewing and Wood Engraving. Photographs of production machinery used on these pages were taken by Sandra Traversy on site at the printing office of the Porcupine's Quill, December 2008.
The Devil's Artisan would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Magazine Fund (CMF) through the Support for Arts and Literary Magazines (SALM) component toward our editorial and production costs. Thanks, as well, for the generosity of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Sleeman Brewing Company.