The 122-year-old English hand press that was used by the designer William Morris to produce “The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer,†his ornate masterpiece of decorative printing, has been acquired by the Rochester Institute of Technology for its Cary Graphic Arts Collection.
The collection curator, Steven Galbraith, promised in a statement that the press would have “an active life at R.I.T., not simply as a museum artifact but as a working press accessible to students, scholars and printers.â€
The institute made the winning bid of $190,000 at a Dec. 6 auction at Christie's, bringing the total acquisition cost - with a buyer's premium - to $233,000. Prof. Jethro K. Lieberman of New York Law School, whose family had owned the press since 1960, said, “It's cause for celebration that it will be put to use, so that future generations can print on this venerable press.â€
