Purgatory Pie Press began in 1977 in Madison, Wisconsin when Dikko Faust pied an overfilled job case of cold metal 8 point Century Oldstyle. He sorted it days and nights for weeks, made his first two books and paper for the third, and moved to New York City.

In 1980 Dikko Faust and the Press married Esther K Smith and the E K Smith Museum, a museum of found art, including the Apron Collection. Their wedding invitation was their first letterpress collaboration.

Dikko Faust hand sets wood and metal type and experiments with letterpress as a printmaking medium. Smith edits and designs and hand sews books. Faust and Smith collaborate with other artists and writers, making limited editions and artist books. They publish yearly datebooks, and produce a monthly postcard subscription.The Press produced series of ArtistTracts, Artists Coasters, and PurgaToys. Instabooks is a current subscription series.

Purgatory Pie Press had solo exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. (Museum collections include MOMA, Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney, the Tate, National Gallery of Art, Cooper-Hewitt, the Getty, Corcoran, San Francisco MOMA, and the Walker.)

The Press has had solo exhibitions at Harvard University, Smith College, and San Francisco’s Center for the Book.

The How to Make Books exhibit began at Cooper Union and traveled to RISD, Pyramid Atlantic, SVA’s design MFA gallery, Minnesota Center for the Book, Athens Cultural Center, and Pratt Institute.

Faust and Smith travel as visiting artists, lecturing, demonstrating, and making collaborative projects in art

centers and universities. Faust teaches letterpress at SVA. They also teach private classes at Purgatory Pie Press. Extraordinary A+100 students can apply for internships.

Esther K Smith has written and co-designed three books for Random House imprint Potter Craft. Dikko Faust hand set type for the covers and display pages. HOW TO MAKE BOOKS and MAGIC BOOKS & PAPER TOYS are available wherever books are sold. You can get them directly from Purgatory Pie Press—signed and with FREE GIFT! You can now pre-order THE PAPER BRIDE—coming New Year 2010.

Purgatory Pie Press just finished designing the wood type logo for Greenlight Bookstore and is about to print their bookmarks and business cards. The press also designs and makes letterheads, invitations and custom books.

Visit our Etsy shop:

www.etsy.com/shop/PurgatoryPiePressINK

Or on our website:

www.purgatorypiepress.com