Watch a very old-fashioned birth of a book for your craftsmanship needs

Founded in 1981 and situated in Otley, the market town where Wharfedale Printing machines were manufactured in the last century, Smith Settle Printers is a company which deserves any Typophile's love and affection. 

Continuing the tradition of craftsmanship in the printing industry with an “enviable reputation for the highest quality printing and bookbinding” Smith Settle's products are a kind reminder of the spell-binding beauty of bringing a book to life in the old fashioned way. 

Glen Milner's short film of the Smith Settle printing and bookbinding company documents the production of a hardbound edition of the memoir Mango and Mimosa (1974) by the British writer and painter Suzanne St Albans. This short vignette of a book being created using traditional printing methods was shot, directed & edited by Milner for the Daily Telegraph.

“How many of us pause to wonder, when we hold a beautiful book in our hands, about the work that went into making it?” writes the Telegraph of its mesmerising video featuring Smith Settle owners, Don Walters and Tracey Thorne working on the making of the 17th Slightly Foxed book. 

“Here, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at the printing plates, the stitching of the 'signatures' (folded sections), the pressing and gluing, the adding of the ribbon bookmark and head and tail bands, the making of the final hardcover in green linen cloth and the numbering of the copies. All of it done with great care, much of it by hand.”

Press play and enjoy.