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Wine press

Posted by Lewis on April 25, 2003

In Reply to: Wine press posted by Celia on April 25, 2003

: Hi,

: I don't understand what the phrase 'with a wine press converted for the task' in the following paragraph. Could anyone do me a favor?

:
: By utilizing a process whereby each letter was moulded individually and was then continuously reused, he was able to produce texts - most famously a 42-line Bible of 1282 two-column pages around 1457-8- with a wine press converted for the task.

: Thank you a lot.

I cannot swear that the following is the exact answer, but wine and cider presses of centruies ago operated by a large central screw which was turned by a transverse handle and which forced the lid of the press into the fruit to pulp it and squeeze the juice out. I have seen printing done in a similar fashion with the screw flattening a plate onto the material to be printed upon. A wine press, minus the sides to keep the fruit in would be entirely suitable for that kind of printing. the inked plate with the image or moveable type would be set up on top of material to be impressed, be it paper of hatever and then the screw handle turned to press the plate and ink onto the paper - which would ensure that the maximum amount of the image was pressed into the paper. a "screw press" as I think they are called is still used in certain traditional or artisan liquor production such as cider and perry. I think wine is usually done on a larger scale.

I hope that helps.

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