SAVOIR-FAIRE OF

THE TYPOGRAPHY PUNCHES

The savoir-faire

The typography punches is a meticulous savoir-faire. In fact, it requires the skill of the punchcutters. These craftsmen have been around since the 15th Century, when Gutenberg combined techniques already used from medalists (cutting of punches and the making of matrix) and succeeded to create a hand-held mould for casting type. This revolutionary invention allowed craftsman to easily and quickly get leadtypes, with strictly the same height. Consequently, in 1440, a modern printing was born! It was the beginning of a new era of communication.

The fabrication of movable leaden types, which is used in printing, is divided into three steps. There are the cutting of punches, the striking of matrices, and then the casting of thousands of leadtypes. This process corresponds to the traditional letterpress. The typographic punch, a unique piece, is the essential element of the chain. It is a steel bar with one of its ends rounded to make a dome. The dome helps to center the force for the striking of the matrice, while the other is polished like a mirror to receive the drawing letter.

The cutting of type punches follow a number of important steps. There are the preparation of a steel bar, report of the drawing, smoke proof, engraving with files and then with gravers, checking of external and internal dimensions with the help of gauges. Finally, there are the help of smoke proofs, retouching with gravers and files, final polishing, and to conclude some heat treatments.

Annie Bocel

Today, the cutting of type punches is a rare skill. It must be preserved because we counted in 2016 only four active punchcutters at the international scale. This profession attracts engravers, type designers, artists and enthusiasts in search of rediscovering this old knowledge and technique.

Annie Bocel is the last holder of this craft. She was a pupil of Nelly Gable, engraver of typographic punches at the Imprimerie Nationale, who was appointed Master of Art in 2013.