Unique printing blocks

25 juin 2012

Glerum Auctioneers in Amsterdam auctioned a number of rare printing blocks last week. It concerns 23 blocks of wood used by the Thorbecke Brothers from Zwolle. This series is so unique because it shows the marks that were used by this important trading company at the end of the eighteenth century. Apart from the blocks itself, cast in lead, there were also some moulds carved of wood that were used as matrix for the lead printing blocks. All in all a very informative set of objects that we were able to buy despite the high price. There was a lot of interest in these objects probably because the son of the last owner of the company was the well-known Dutch politician Johan Thorbecke.

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