The Piscator Press
The printing workshop is located on Level 1 of Fisher Library on the Camperdown Campus and houses a second, smaller printing press.
An annual Printer in Residence Program held in second semester is coordinated by Rare Books and Special Collection. Open Studio sessions scheduled during this program provide an opportunity for the university and wider community to get up close and hands on with the press.
The Press is also activated for special events including Sydney Rare Book Week and University Alumni Days, or by request for class demonstrations.
History of the Piscator Press
Purchased in the early 1960s, the 1879 Improved Albion printing press was the passion of former University Librarian, Harrison Bryan (1962-1980).
Bryan in the 1963 article, “Private Press in Fisher” considered an intimate understanding of the craftmanship of hand-printed book production essential to textual scholarship and formed a small group of interested staff with the modest ambition “to print well”. The group’s first publication in 1964 is called “A Press is Born: a statement of intent” by Fisher Press, later changed to the Latin “Piscator” Press, meaning Kingfisher to avoid confusion with a commercial printer of the same name.
This group went on to handset and print approximately 23 publications, including meeting reports, playbills, Christmas cards and wine lists.
- Produced in December 1963, this leaflet announces the establishment of the Fisher Press within the University of Sydney Library, and is the press's first official publication. The following year, the name of the press was changed to its Latin equivalent, Piscator, due to the name ‘Fisher Press’ already being in use by an established commercial printing service. The last paragraph of this brief statement of intent neatly summarises the humble aims of the press’s founders: ‘It is not our aim to pander to the past, to cherish the precious or to promote the dilettante. We just hope to print well’ A press is born: a statement of intent. Sydney: Fisher Press, 1963. RB 770.1 1 copy 2.
- In this letter published in the August 1965 issue of the Australian Book Review, 'E.G' provides a most intriguing description of the fledgling Piscator Press. Reader's news item about the Piscator Press Australian Book Review, August 1965, p. 1. RB 770.1 13.
Teaching with the Piscator Press
For further information about using the Piscator Press in your teaching or research, email Rare Books & Special Collections.
Annual Printer in Residence Program
Since 2018, the University of Sydney Library has coordinated a Printer in Residence Program using the Piscator Press. This acquisitive eight-week residency, supported by payment of $10,000 is intended to increase awareness of the Piscator Press and to encourage an ongoing enthusiasm for book arts within the University. The Program includes Open Studios engaging with the University community and is coordinated by Rare Books and Special Collections, who receive a printed book or artwork at the end of each residency for inclusion in the Artists Book Collection.
The library would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of ArtScene and The Penrith Print Museum.
Image: Piscator Press : an original pen and ink drawing of the improved Albion hand-printing press, by Allan Gamble. Sydney, 1964. RB 770.1 20.
Related information
Contact
For further information about the Piscator Press, the residency or using it in your teaching or research, email Rare Books & Special Collections.