The Print History Project

Things

During the 1880s, after the excitement and energy of the gold rush, New Zealand gradually declined into economic recession. Despite this, 1880s also marked the heyday of Victorian letterpress printing. New steam presses, new ornamented types and new printing processes gave printers increasingly sophisticated tools to get the word out in outrageous typography, glorious colour, deluxe editions or commercial quantities. The associated book trades including bookbinding, engraving, bookselling, publishing, paperselling and auctioneering all flourished.

This section investigates - at increasingly specific levels - how these patterns developed as New Zealand emerged from the recession during the 1890s.

Total Number of Book Trade Firms in Wellington


Book Trade Firms in Wellington Granulated by Service


Works Printed & Published by Coupland Harding


Contemporary Reception of Coupland Harding's Publications