Prelo Prints

Prelo Prints is a project born from the love for letterpress and all forms of early print, its techniques and history.

Historical works printed on a reproduction 1400’s wooden hand press.

05/08/2026

Before a single cut could be made, the original image had to be digitally restored.

Working from the 15th-century Biblia Pauperum at the Gutenberg Museum, I reconstructed faded details and missing sections to create an accurate working drawing for the new woodblock.

This was the first step in a 100-hour commission for the museum's permanent exhibition.

01/08/2026

After months of only being able to show you parts of it, I can finally share the whole thing.

This is my reproduction of the Annunciation block from the Biblia Pauperum (Pauper’s Bible), a block book from the second half of the 15th century, commissioned by the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz.

The block took 100 hours of work, including 82 hours of cutting over 61 days, from the first cut to the final detail.

And now, after months in my workshop, it has travelled to Mainz, where it’s presented alongside the original block book in the museum’s Schatzkammer.

I’ve been waiting a long time to show you this one. Here it is. :) And if you’re as fascinated by this as I am, follow along as I share more behind-the-scenes looks of this and other print projects.

31/07/2026

It’s a wrap!

The mood, just like the temperature, was running high today in the Treasure Chamber of the for the handover of the Biblia Pauperum commission block I created for the museum’s permanent exhibition.

After the official handover, I had the opportunity to speak with the local press and meet visitors from Japan, the USA, Italy, and many other countries.

A heartfelt thank you to and, of course, to everyone involved who made this project possible. I hope to return soon. 😊

28/07/2026

This Friday, I'll be at the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. 🇩🇪

After months of working on the Biblia Pauperum commission, I'm finally bringing the finished block to Mainz, where I will be spending the day at the museum, showing some of my work and working on my current Apocalypse block.

If you're visiting the Gutenberg Museum on Friday, 31 July, come and say hello! I'd be very happy to meet you, show you what I've been working on, and talk about historical woodcut printing.

And… from 1 August, I can finally show you the whole Biblia Pauperum block. 😎

25/07/2026

This Sunday at 14:00 (CEST), join me for a live talk with Ibookbinding about the commission block for the Gutenberg-Museum Mainz of a page of the Biblia Pauperum block book.

We’ll talk about the original medieval design, the process of translating it into a woodblock, the painstaking carving, and what it takes to bring an image from the earliest age of European printing back to life by hand.

We'd be happy to see your reactions and answer any questions you have, so please join us live this Sunday on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5e68RQBAus

23/07/2026

This is where every woodcut begins.

Welcome to my little “oficina”, the place where I prepare the wood before it becomes a print block. It’s home to old hand tools (some inherited), stacks of timber, and much more. Which part of the process would you like to see next?

20/07/2026

Do you know the difference between woodcut and wood engraving?

I teamed up with Rebecca Gilbert for this post to highlight the main differences between these two relief-printing techniques.

Have you ever seen an original wood engraving in person?

16/07/2026

Follow along for a quick tour of the studio/workshop/atelier/living room. ; ) Curious about something? Let me know in the comments!

13/07/2026

Halfway through the Apocalypse block. It's been lots of fun, as always, cutting this block while experimenting with a new knife and making a bigger effort to film and document the process.

The work continues, and this block will travel with me to Mainz at the end of the month. On 31 July, I'll be at the Gutenberg-Museum Mainz for a show and tell, so if you are in the area and would like to see it live, come and visit! (See my previous posts if you'd like to know more.)

Can you try to guess how many hours it took to cut the block of text alone? Make your guess in the comments! ⏳

Address

74 High Street
Glastonbury
BA6 9DZ

Website

https://preloprints.com/

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