Description
Book SynopsisKathy E. Ferguson explores the importance of anarchist letterpress printers and presses, whose printed materials galvanized anarchist movements across the United States and Great Britain from the late nineteenth century to 1940s.
Trade Review“By focusing on letterpress Ferguson presents a novel way of looking at the history of Anarchism. Letterpress as a way of working generates an active hands-on ambition to build and embody new and creative ideas. . . . Ferguson’s history promotes the message that meaningful radical development builds from face-to-face, hand-to-hand, cooperative endeavour.” -- Peter Good * Kate Sharpley Library *
"Ferguson's half-century of involvement in radical politics and her painstaking research in anarchist collections (many of them ill organized) qualifies her to write this dense but compelling history. . . . Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty." -- T. S. Martin * Choice *
"In fluid prose, Ferguson offers a fresh historical look at the anarchist movement through a focus on lesser-known figures and their lesser-known labours, including printing and letter-writing." -- Layla Saleh * LSE Review of Books *
"Letterpress Revolution is essential reading. It is a result of exhaustive and detailed research that clarifies instead of obscures. ... It enriches anarchist history allowing us to appreciate the nuances and bravery of people as well as their complexities."
-- Barry Pateman * KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library *
Table of ContentsPreface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction. Anarchist Letters 1
1. Printers and Presses 21
2. Epistolarity 83
3. Radical Study 129
4. Intersectionality and Thing Power 185
Appendix A. Compositors, Pressmen, and Bookbinders 215
Appendix B. Brief Biographies 225
Appendix C. Printers Interviewed 231
Notes 233
Letters Referenced 281
Bibliography 287
Index 317
