Margaret Lock on Lock's Press

Locks' Press, according to the  Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild's Ottawa Chapter website, "was founded in 1979. Since then it has printed eleven books, fifteen pamphlets, and twenty-four broadsides. The editions are small, 30 to 80 copies. The press prints mainly illustrated editions of unusual but enduring texts, ranging from classical Greece to the early twentieth century.

Fred is the editor and has provided translations for about a third of the titles (from Greek, Latin, Middle English, Provençal, and German). Margaret does the woodcut illustrations, design, typesetting, printing and binding. The character of the press is conservative and scholarly. Most texts are presented in their original spelling and punctuation. Many of the texts have an underlying serious moral. The presentation is enlivened by the illustrations.

"Simple, strong, sometimes slightly comic, the woodcuts encourage the reader to reconsider the text, and remember its message." I spoke recently with Margaret about her press, its history, her approach to illustration, her work philosophy, and what she looks for in fine press books.