My new book, Dig for Victory: Monthly Growing Guides and Commentary, is being printed! I thought it would be nice to share a bit about how it is being produced.
The Gutenberg Printing Press in action around 1450
Now, to be honest, you might not be quite as excited as I am about this. It’s been a long time coming. I know some of my regular readers may have wondered if it was ever going to arrive.
Having spent some time looking around for a printer who could produce it to a really high standard at an affordable price, I settled on printers Gutenberg in Malta. The original Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440 which kick-started a knowledge revolution. Things have moved on a little since!
I mentioned to my contact at Gutenberg that it would be fantastic to have a photo of my book being printed and he kindly sent some photos and a video. It would have been nice to have visited them in person with my camera but I don’t see me travelling abroad again until this pandemic is sorted.
Quality Control
This is a photo of one of the sheets being quality checked. You can see each sheet off the press actually has 32 pages from the book. Remember they’re printed on both sides. Once the sheets come off the printer they are cut, folded and assembled into the book.
Quality Checking Dig for Victory at the printers
Video of Dig for Victory being printed
You can see how incredibly fast the machine is in the video below of my book being printed. They tell me it’s a Heidelberg XL105, a real beast! If you’re interested in technology, there’s a good video showing a similar machine on Youtube here. It’s a bit like the engine room on the Starship Enterprise!
I’m looking forward to seeing a lorry roll up here with the copies next month. If you want to be individually notified and eligible for the early bird offer, sign up here.
Very interested that the book is being printed now. Very much look forward to when it arrives.
I have very much enjoyed reading your newsletters they are so interesting with all the photos.
I have just received the “The Dig For Victory” book. It was well worth the wait. A lot of thought, time and love went into this book. Thank you John, a job well done!
Great book John and Val! I can’t put it down!pity the Ministry of fish and ag could not include the veg varieties in their leaflets but never mind! thanks again John.