Woodcut artist at work, Jost Amman, *The Book of States*, Nuremberg, 1568, woodcut on handmade paper, dimensions: print 15 x 11.5 cm, sheet 30 x 21.5 cm, replica carved from a linden block by Tadeusz Grajpel, printed from the block using traditional methods, stamped “GT” (Tadeusz Grajpel), hand-signed and inscribed in pencil by Tadeusz Grajpel.
Jost Amman (born in 1539 in Zurich, died March 17, 1591, in Nuremberg)—Swiss engraver and painter. He created mainly illustrations for the Bible, the works of Boccaccio, and Luther’s writings; he also illustrated Hans Sachs’s *Book of Estates* and *Book of Women’s Dress*. He is the author and artist of a series of portraits of French rulers accompanied by biographical descriptions.
Tadeusz Grajpel on his work:
Tadeusz Grajpel, (born in 1955)—I live in Końskie, where I established and have been running my own studio since 1994, dedicated to recreating historical technologies related to the history of documents, books, and woodcuts. For over a dozen years, this has been the Workshop for Historical Research and Education.
Back in the last century, I built the country’s first replica of a Gutenberg printing press intended for public education. It remains in operation to this day in accordance with historical realities, naturally using lead type. It is used for a wide range of educational activities on the history of printing, as well as for printing various short source texts and bibliophile editions. For over 30 years, historical woodcut printing has also served as a complementary element in my research on early printing; I study and reproduce these works both technically and analytically. Today, this is my primary focus; I have already carved over 700 research replicas of old printing blocks. I began with several dozen objects of the oldest provenance and use, ranging from fabric printing from the dawn of civilization to the present day. In this way, I sought the source of the skills possessed by woodcut artists in medieval Europe, who created an incredibly rich and ever-growing collection of blocks for printing on paper. These were used to illustrate incunabula, old prints, various loose prints, and many other ways in which woodcut prints were utilized in everyday life. To date, I have carved approximately 150 medieval blocks, and the work is ongoing.
While researching Renaissance books, I recreated several hundred blocks from old prints of all origins. Of course, these include both our Kraków university textbooks and works from all over Europe at that time. In all existing variations of use and diverse subject matter: science, religion, politics, and entertainment. There are over 500 of them, and more are being created.
I create all woodcuts with the utmost historical fidelity to the original techniques. These are copies—replicas of original prints from the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. These were the times of langowe woodcuts, created lengthwise. They were cut, not engraved—contrary to the misleading name of the much later “cross-cut” woodcut. This is manual work, as close as possible to the original technique, using traditional methods. First, I transfer the historical print from a selected source onto a prepared block. This, incidentally, was a common practice for hundreds of years, with various approaches. This is the only stage where, for obvious reasons, I use digital copies to ensure fidelity to the original. The block is carved by hand. I cut out every line of the print using appropriate scalpels. Chisels are used only to carve out larger areas, such as the background. The printing block carved in this way is, of course, used for printing, just as it was in the past. To make the prints, I use exclusively handmade paper with watermarks from the Museum of Papermaking in Duszniki-Zdrój. The printing process is also done by hand, involving soaking, pressing, drying, and ironing—exactly as in historic workshops. Several hundred carved blocks and the prints on display have also served for many years as a foundation for a wide range of educational activities, including workshops, museum and library exhibitions, bibliophile publications, lectures, and demonstrations aimed at popularizing knowledge about the history of books and printing. These activities also include classes for students at the Jagiellonian University and many other Polish universities. In Kraków, I have also been collaborating for years with museums and cultural institutions—including the National Museum, the Museum of Kraków, the UNESCO City of Literature, and the Kraków Book Fair (KBF)—on projects such as developing a trail tracing Kraków’s historic printing heritage, as well as numerous other outreach initiatives and exhibitions. The studio’s track record also includes over 30 years of similar educational, museum, and outreach projects throughout the country and abroad; listing even a few dozen of them would likely be neither possible nor appropriate.However, there is something I consider particularly important and worthy of mention. I have the honor, as a Brother Woodcut Artist, of being a member of the chapter of the Knightly Order of the White Raven, a bibliophile organization based in Kraków.
