While visiting the permanent exhibition at the National Print Museum, visitors can see how books were composed entirely by hand for centuries, how mechanical typesetting machines such as the Linotype and Intertype were operated in the newspaper industry and how historical hand presses such as the Columbian and the Albion made the wooden presses of Gutenbergs time redundant.
A recent addition to the Museum collection is a
and the 1922 Oglaigh na hEireann Proclamation, both on loan from a private lender. The 1916 Proclamation is regarded as Irelands most famous piece of printed ephemera, having been printed secretly on a Wharfedale Stop Cylinder Press Liberty Hall, Dublin.
Although regarded as a fascinating tribute to the history of printing, the Museum is much more. The Museum offers, where possible, the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of the ancient craft of printing through guided tours, workshops, and handling sessions and open days. Visitors may use the reference library by appointment or browse in the
Museum shop or
Gutenberg Cafe. The collection can also be brought to the community through outreach workshops in libraries, art centres and other venues.
