The L-D Allen Press

The L-D Allen Press began as a hobby in 1939. After WWII, Lewis and Dorothy Allen turned professional, producing two titles a year using Acorn, Albion and Columbian printing presses, from their homes in the North Bay area near San Francisco. They used hand-set types like Romanée and Unciala and preferred dampened, hand-made papers. They issued an important printing manual “Printing with the Handpress” in a limited edition in 1969. In the early 1980s they donated their types and presses to the University of Utah.