Peter Koch Printer: A Descriptive Bibliography [1974-2016]

Produced to accompany a 2017 survey exhibition at Stanford University, these three volumes celebrate 40 years of intensive press activity and the larger-than-life presence of American master printer Peter Rutledge Koch. There are few active grand printeries left in the world today and those that have survived have done so by paying careful attention to the market and its desires. Some have teamed up with commercial businesses as specialist services and (upmarket) jobbing printers. Koch has been a Renaissance man in the true original Italian sense of the term: “a man who can do all things if he will” (Alberti).A self-taught printer and autodidact, Koch studied the work of, and was deeply influenced by, the California press scene of the 1970s and 1980s and was mentored by designer Adrian Wilson. Koch then mentored others: one of his studio alumni is type designer and printer Russell Maret, who introduces the third volume. Over his career, Koch has hosted and fostered a community of writers and artists and other printers. He operates in the role of print diplomat: connecting with university libraries and patrons, forging internal and international connections, and creating a new marketplace for artist books as well as encouraging a renewed awareness of contemporary fine printing.