TYPE Print

Jim Sherraden, Hatch Show Print’s former master printer, designed this stunning print using the single figure alphabet block set that was carved before 1885 and includes letters, numbers, and punctuation. 

Each letter is inked by hand, using hand-mixed ink that has been made more transparent, making the colors blend as the four letters, “T-Y-P-E,” are layered on top of one another.

This font, or set, of type is known in the print shop as the “one sheet type” because it takes a sheet of paper that is at least 26 x 40 inches to print it; close to the largest sheet-size paper available when Hatch Show Print opened in 1879. The size of the printing press beds, and the largest printing blocks that could be printed, were determined by the paper available. Later, in the 20th century, paper sheet sizes did increase, so everything else got bigger too. The name of the shop, shown as “C.R. & H.H. Hatch Show Printers, Nashville, Tenn” was cut into the E and the L so that anyone who saw the advertisements knew who made them.

Designer's Notes

• Size: 26" x 40"
• Letterpress print.
• Printed on a Vandercook 28-42.
• Handmade in Nashville, Tennessee.