Milestones in Printing: A timeline of artifacts from the Cary Graphic Arts Collection.

This exhibition is a permanent museum exhibition in the Cary Graphic Arts Collection. Milestones in Printing brings the evolution of relief printing to life through a timeline of artifacts from the Cary Graphic Arts Collection. It begins with the inception of printing during the Tang Dynasty in China, 7th century CE, through woodblock printing and later movable type, and moves to Johann Gutenberg's innovations of the printing press and casting type in a hand mold in the 15th century. Milestones in Printing progress through centuries of letterpress printing and conclude with the mechanical breakthroughs in automated printing of the 20th century and the legacy of the RIT School of Printing.

Equipment used in typecasting for letterpress printing: adjustable mould, punches, matrix, metal printer's type.

RIT School of Printing, Downtown Rochester Campus, Photographic reproduction, ca. 1955. RIT Archives.