Tramp Printers

Beginning with the invention ofmovable type in the 15th century,itinerant artisans roamed the highwaysand byways of the world, workingwhere and when they pleased. It allended five centuries later, whencomputer typesetting replaced humans.Mark Twain, Bret Harte, HoraceGreely (along with legionsof much less famous printers) pliedtheir trade and enjoyed adventuresas tramp printers until it all suddenlyvanished in the mid 1970s.A sociological study, as seen throughthe eyes of tramp printers themselves.Footloose and carefree, theseadventurers enjoyed 500 years offreedom, working where and whenthey pleased. A vanished breed, todaythey live on through recollections,anecdotes, and memories of how itused to be, when printers workedwith "real type."