She said: “It is an honour and a privilege to officially ‘open’ this press.”
Claire Bolton, one of the five printing history enthusiasts who originally backed the project, said: “We have actually put a new press into Fleet Street, and that’s exciting – it may be made of wood and only one or two impressions per minute, but it works!”
The St Bride Foundation is renting the press for five years, for the princely sum of £1. Glyn Farrow, chief executive, said: “It’s wonderful that people can see it and use it, especially as we expand the workshop.”
Konica Minolta is funding the renovation of an additional room that will become workshop number two, Farrow added.
The manufacturer is Platinum Print Heritage Partner of the foundation.
Konica Minolta head of marketing Malcolm Glynn was at the launch event, and took a turn on the Dürer with Bolton.
Bolton, her husband David Bolton, Ben Weiner, Richard Lawrence and Andrew Dolinksi set up the Dürer Press Group to commission the press.
Printing historian and craftsman Alan May made the press, after making detailed studies of a 1511 sketch by the artist Albrecht Dürer. He said: “I wanted it to be something people could use. It’s unlikely to break.”
