A field guide to the
makers of beautiful books.

BookPresses is an independent, curated directory of the fine-press and letterpress publishers working today — the studios where books are still set by hand, printed under impression, and often bound one signature at a time.

Our mission

The fine-press world is small, scattered, and quietly extraordinary. A press in a converted barn in Devon, a studio above a shop in Verona, a handpress in a cultural centre in Queensland — each keeps alive a craft that predates and outlasts the screen. They are easy to love and hard to find. BookPresses exists to close that gap: to be the place a reader, collector, librarian, or aspiring printer can go to discover who is making books as objects of art, and where.

What we list

We focus on presses defined by craft rather than scale: letterpress and private presses, fine-press publishers, makers of artists' books, wood engravers, and the binders and typographers who work alongside them. Every listing links out to the press's own website so you can see — and support — their work directly. We currently list 113 presses across 10 countries, founded between 1555 and 2024.

How it's made

BookPresses is a fast, static website built to last and to be read on anything. There is no tracking, no advertising, and no paywall. Listings are editorial and independent: presses don't pay to appear, and inclusion isn't an endorsement of any particular edition — only an invitation to go and look.

For the book community

This is a resource for the whole community of the book: the collector hunting a specific imprint, the student learning the trade, the librarian building a special collection, and the curious reader who has just discovered that the book can be art. If you run or know a press that belongs here, we would be glad to hear from you.