St Brigid Press
@stbrigidpress.bsky.social
Letterpress Printer & Small Press Publisher on Monacan Indian Nation Lands in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Emily Hancock, proprietor.
Website: stbrigidpress.net
Language • Interbeing • Compassion
Website: stbrigidpress.net
Language • Interbeing • Compassion
Have a peace-full day, friends.
August 11, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Have a peace-full day, friends.
I missed being in the print shop today, but at least managed to write three poems and replace the tractor’s busted radiator hose.
#gratitude #rurallife #nelsoncounty #poetry #poetryisnotaluxury #poemsandtractors #johndeere #shadetreemechanic
#gratitude #rurallife #nelsoncounty #poetry #poetryisnotaluxury #poemsandtractors #johndeere #shadetreemechanic
July 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
I missed being in the print shop today, but at least managed to write three poems and replace the tractor’s busted radiator hose.
#gratitude #rurallife #nelsoncounty #poetry #poetryisnotaluxury #poemsandtractors #johndeere #shadetreemechanic
#gratitude #rurallife #nelsoncounty #poetry #poetryisnotaluxury #poemsandtractors #johndeere #shadetreemechanic
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
— Henry David Thoreau, *Walden* (1854)
#thoreau #walden #castlesintheair #foundations #blueridgemountains #julymorning
— Henry David Thoreau, *Walden* (1854)
#thoreau #walden #castlesintheair #foundations #blueridgemountains #julymorning
July 18, 2025 at 11:55 AM
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
— Henry David Thoreau, *Walden* (1854)
#thoreau #walden #castlesintheair #foundations #blueridgemountains #julymorning
— Henry David Thoreau, *Walden* (1854)
#thoreau #walden #castlesintheair #foundations #blueridgemountains #julymorning
One of the unsung heroes of the print shop is the dehumidifier. Our summers are always humid, & increasingly hot. And humidity is no friend to the cast-iron presses & lead-alloy metal type that fills the space.
#blueridgemountains #virginia #printshop #shoptalk #letterpress #castiron #metaltype
#blueridgemountains #virginia #printshop #shoptalk #letterpress #castiron #metaltype
July 16, 2025 at 3:25 PM
One of the unsung heroes of the print shop is the dehumidifier. Our summers are always humid, & increasingly hot. And humidity is no friend to the cast-iron presses & lead-alloy metal type that fills the space.
#blueridgemountains #virginia #printshop #shoptalk #letterpress #castiron #metaltype
#blueridgemountains #virginia #printshop #shoptalk #letterpress #castiron #metaltype
Late afternoon at the type case… Shop Dog Linji-the-Aussie is exhausted from herding little metal letters all day…
#aussie #letterpress #metaltype #shopdog #printshop
#aussie #letterpress #metaltype #shopdog #printshop
July 15, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Late afternoon at the type case… Shop Dog Linji-the-Aussie is exhausted from herding little metal letters all day…
#aussie #letterpress #metaltype #shopdog #printshop
#aussie #letterpress #metaltype #shopdog #printshop
Happy birthday, Henry!
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite only a sense of existence....My wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”
HDT, December 6, 1856
#thoreau #contentment #otd #americanhistory
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite only a sense of existence....My wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”
HDT, December 6, 1856
#thoreau #contentment #otd #americanhistory
July 12, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Happy birthday, Henry!
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite only a sense of existence....My wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”
HDT, December 6, 1856
#thoreau #contentment #otd #americanhistory
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite only a sense of existence....My wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”
HDT, December 6, 1856
#thoreau #contentment #otd #americanhistory
What to with bold, old metal type with the disconcerting name of “Empire”? Well, one solution is to beat swords into ploughshares. So I printed up some 72pt Peace with Morris Fuller Benton’s 1930s design.
#peace #ploughshares #typedesign #metaltype #printinghistory
#peace #ploughshares #typedesign #metaltype #printinghistory
July 8, 2025 at 1:29 PM
What to with bold, old metal type with the disconcerting name of “Empire”? Well, one solution is to beat swords into ploughshares. So I printed up some 72pt Peace with Morris Fuller Benton’s 1930s design.
#peace #ploughshares #typedesign #metaltype #printinghistory
#peace #ploughshares #typedesign #metaltype #printinghistory
“To know the spirit of a place is to realize that you are a part of a part and that the whole is made of parts, each of which is whole. You start with the part you are whole in.”
— Gary Snyder, “The Place,The Region,&The Commons” in *The Practice of the Wild* (Counterpoint, 1990)
#garysnyder #place
— Gary Snyder, “The Place,The Region,&The Commons” in *The Practice of the Wild* (Counterpoint, 1990)
#garysnyder #place
July 5, 2025 at 12:54 PM
“To know the spirit of a place is to realize that you are a part of a part and that the whole is made of parts, each of which is whole. You start with the part you are whole in.”
— Gary Snyder, “The Place,The Region,&The Commons” in *The Practice of the Wild* (Counterpoint, 1990)
#garysnyder #place
— Gary Snyder, “The Place,The Region,&The Commons” in *The Practice of the Wild* (Counterpoint, 1990)
#garysnyder #place
“Find your place on the planet, dig in, and take responsibility from there.”
— Gary Snyder, from a footnote in “Four Changes” (1970)
#garysnyder #homeplace #blueridgemountains
— Gary Snyder, from a footnote in “Four Changes” (1970)
#garysnyder #homeplace #blueridgemountains
July 3, 2025 at 11:37 AM
“Find your place on the planet, dig in, and take responsibility from there.”
— Gary Snyder, from a footnote in “Four Changes” (1970)
#garysnyder #homeplace #blueridgemountains
— Gary Snyder, from a footnote in “Four Changes” (1970)
#garysnyder #homeplace #blueridgemountains
Reading Gary Snyder this evening —
June 27, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Reading Gary Snyder this evening —
Reposted by St Brigid Press
Toni Morrison is one of the greatest writers to ever live. What many don’t know, is that she was also the first Black woman to become a senior editor at Random House. I wrote about a new book that discusses how she edited by day, wrote by night, and ushered in a new generation of Black writers.
How Toni Morrison Changed Publishing
At night, she worked on her novels. By day, as an editor at Random House, she championed a new generation of writers.
www.theatlantic.com
June 25, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Toni Morrison is one of the greatest writers to ever live. What many don’t know, is that she was also the first Black woman to become a senior editor at Random House. I wrote about a new book that discusses how she edited by day, wrote by night, and ushered in a new generation of Black writers.
“Big wheel[s] keep on turnin’”…
The 1914 Chandler-&-Price printing press coming back to life this morning. After a back injury a couple of years ago, I retired the foot-treadle & now let the motor do the work of keeping this 1500+ pound beast rolling.
#letterpress #printing #printshoplife
The 1914 Chandler-&-Price printing press coming back to life this morning. After a back injury a couple of years ago, I retired the foot-treadle & now let the motor do the work of keeping this 1500+ pound beast rolling.
#letterpress #printing #printshoplife
June 25, 2025 at 3:09 PM
“Big wheel[s] keep on turnin’”…
The 1914 Chandler-&-Price printing press coming back to life this morning. After a back injury a couple of years ago, I retired the foot-treadle & now let the motor do the work of keeping this 1500+ pound beast rolling.
#letterpress #printing #printshoplife
The 1914 Chandler-&-Price printing press coming back to life this morning. After a back injury a couple of years ago, I retired the foot-treadle & now let the motor do the work of keeping this 1500+ pound beast rolling.
#letterpress #printing #printshoplife
Have you ever seen the underside of a metal type forme? The bottom of all the letters and spacing material has its own fascinating structure and pattern. (Just make sure it’s locked up tight before taking a look ;-)
#letterpress #metaltype
#letterpress #metaltype
June 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Have you ever seen the underside of a metal type forme? The bottom of all the letters and spacing material has its own fascinating structure and pattern. (Just make sure it’s locked up tight before taking a look ;-)
#letterpress #metaltype
#letterpress #metaltype
Slowly & carefully distributing the type back into its case, breaking up the clods of words & spacing material & fingering language’s newly-friable ground again. These little silver seeds will sprout something new, in time.
#letterpress #language #metaltype #distributing #decomposition #bookmaking
#letterpress #language #metaltype #distributing #decomposition #bookmaking
June 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Slowly & carefully distributing the type back into its case, breaking up the clods of words & spacing material & fingering language’s newly-friable ground again. These little silver seeds will sprout something new, in time.
#letterpress #language #metaltype #distributing #decomposition #bookmaking
#letterpress #language #metaltype #distributing #decomposition #bookmaking
June 14, 2025 at 3:41 PM
~
creek talked
all night long —
so smooth,
even the moon drowned
in that silver tongue
~
(From *Soundings: haiku & carvings* by Emily
Hancock, St Brigid Press, 2014)
#poetry #creeks #blueridgemountains
creek talked
all night long —
so smooth,
even the moon drowned
in that silver tongue
~
(From *Soundings: haiku & carvings* by Emily
Hancock, St Brigid Press, 2014)
#poetry #creeks #blueridgemountains
May 12, 2025 at 4:44 PM
~
creek talked
all night long —
so smooth,
even the moon drowned
in that silver tongue
~
(From *Soundings: haiku & carvings* by Emily
Hancock, St Brigid Press, 2014)
#poetry #creeks #blueridgemountains
creek talked
all night long —
so smooth,
even the moon drowned
in that silver tongue
~
(From *Soundings: haiku & carvings* by Emily
Hancock, St Brigid Press, 2014)
#poetry #creeks #blueridgemountains
This is not a drill.
Trump to Bukele on Salvadoran concentration camps: “Home-growns are next. You’re going to have to build about five more places.”
Here’s the clip.
April 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
This is not a drill.
Reposted by St Brigid Press
Jamestown is sinking. I got to spend some time with the photographer Greta Pratt's new project, thanks to @placesjournal.bsky.social and the often misremembered line from Heraclitus: “We step into and we do not step into the same rivers. We are and we are not.”
placesjournal.org/article/jame...
placesjournal.org/article/jame...
Jamestown Is Sinking
In the Tidewater region of Virginia, history is slipping beneath the waves. In the Anthropocene, a complicated past is vanishing.
placesjournal.org
March 5, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Jamestown is sinking. I got to spend some time with the photographer Greta Pratt's new project, thanks to @placesjournal.bsky.social and the often misremembered line from Heraclitus: “We step into and we do not step into the same rivers. We are and we are not.”
placesjournal.org/article/jame...
placesjournal.org/article/jame...
Sewing tiny books in the print shop bindery (with shop-dog Linji at my side).
#sewing #sewingbooks #handsewing #printshop #printshoplife
#sewing #sewingbooks #handsewing #printshop #printshoplife
April 12, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Sewing tiny books in the print shop bindery (with shop-dog Linji at my side).
#sewing #sewingbooks #handsewing #printshop #printshoplife
#sewing #sewingbooks #handsewing #printshop #printshoplife
“My life as essentially belongs to the present as that of a willow tree in the spring.”
— Henry David Thoreau
A willow tree or, in this case, a Japanese magnolia. The present moment is vast but fleeting; let’s not miss it.
#thoreau #spring #magnolia #japanesemagnolia #presentmoment #now
— Henry David Thoreau
A willow tree or, in this case, a Japanese magnolia. The present moment is vast but fleeting; let’s not miss it.
#thoreau #spring #magnolia #japanesemagnolia #presentmoment #now
March 23, 2025 at 11:26 AM
“My life as essentially belongs to the present as that of a willow tree in the spring.”
— Henry David Thoreau
A willow tree or, in this case, a Japanese magnolia. The present moment is vast but fleeting; let’s not miss it.
#thoreau #spring #magnolia #japanesemagnolia #presentmoment #now
— Henry David Thoreau
A willow tree or, in this case, a Japanese magnolia. The present moment is vast but fleeting; let’s not miss it.
#thoreau #spring #magnolia #japanesemagnolia #presentmoment #now
A poem for St Brigid’s Eve, which was last weekend.
This and other published poems of mine are offered freely each Sunday on my Substack page emilyehancock.substack.com .
#stbrigid #poetry
This and other published poems of mine are offered freely each Sunday on my Substack page emilyehancock.substack.com .
#stbrigid #poetry
February 9, 2025 at 4:24 PM
A poem for St Brigid’s Eve, which was last weekend.
This and other published poems of mine are offered freely each Sunday on my Substack page emilyehancock.substack.com .
#stbrigid #poetry
This and other published poems of mine are offered freely each Sunday on my Substack page emilyehancock.substack.com .
#stbrigid #poetry
Together, personally and communally, we can undo the causes and conditions of harm, of violence, of war in speech and action.
#unlearnwar #unlearnviolence #donoharm #peacework #together #woodtype
#unlearnwar #unlearnviolence #donoharm #peacework #together #woodtype
January 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Together, personally and communally, we can undo the causes and conditions of harm, of violence, of war in speech and action.
#unlearnwar #unlearnviolence #donoharm #peacework #together #woodtype
#unlearnwar #unlearnviolence #donoharm #peacework #together #woodtype
Hello from the frozen tundra just outside the print shop door. I’m taking one sip of steaming coffee, and heading back inside to print.
#blueridgemountains #rurallife #january #cold #coffee #gratitude #print #letterpress
#blueridgemountains #rurallife #january #cold #coffee #gratitude #print #letterpress
January 8, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Hello from the frozen tundra just outside the print shop door. I’m taking one sip of steaming coffee, and heading back inside to print.
#blueridgemountains #rurallife #january #cold #coffee #gratitude #print #letterpress
#blueridgemountains #rurallife #january #cold #coffee #gratitude #print #letterpress
