For several months I have been working on the remodeling of Bowne & Co. Stationers on Water Street in Lower Manhattan. Bowne & Co. is a full-service printing and letterpress shop with a heritage that dates back to 1775 and a curious man named Robert Bowne. Part of my work has required some research on this very interesting gentleman, much coming from a history of his life and his firm entitled Of Men and Dreams. Aside from being attacked by and defeating a large bear in what is now Queens, Bowne co-founded many legendary business, institutions, and landmarks in New York that remain today – including the Bank of New York, the Erie Canal, New York Hospital, and the first New York City public school.

While Bowne & Co. opened its doors in 1775 as a print shop specializing in pamphlets, broadsides, playbills, accounting ledgers, financial papers, and stationery supplies, the Bowne Worldwide firm is now one of the largest distributors of financial information with offices in over 35 cities.  Their headquarters are still in the Financial District just down the street from the store I’m working on.  The shop at 211 Water Street remains an original 18th Century-style print shop, with original print presses, all metal type still set by hand, an assortment of printing ephemera from the past 200 years, and an incredible print master and published print expert in the spiffy Doug Clouse, who knows more about fonts, inks, and presses than anyone you’ll ever meet.  On our end, we’re working on creating a space that best brings to life Bowne’s amazing heritage, and makes these services available to discerning New Yorkers looking to meet unique printing needs.  I have to say, it’s been fun getting to come up with ideas on how to display boxes and boxes of original metal font sets that aren’t storable on any Mac hard drive.

Above is a photo of Bowne & Co. in the early 1900′s. Below, Bowne & Co. today, as well as a few pics from around the shop.  It’s been quite a privilege to get to work with a business that was founded one year before the American Revolution!  Before and after pics coming soon.