Houston, TX

Museum of Printing History in Houston

Address: 1324 West Clay St., Houston TX 77019 - MAP
Phone: (713) 522-4652
Web: www.printingmuseum.org

The Museum of Printing History in Houston opened its doors in 1982, spurred by the interest and efforts of four local printers whose own collections of printing materials, tools and artifacts were extensive and impressive in their own right.

However, these printers wanted to ensure the preservation and understanding of their craft for future generations, especially at the dawn of the Internet age.

As one of the largest museums devoted to the art of printing, the Museum of Printing History contains 14,000 square feet of display area, a 65-seat theater, a gift shop and 15 gallery spaces. In addition to permanent exhibits, the museum displays temporary exhibits regularly.

New exhibits are rotated throughout the year and feature subjects like fine-art prints, rare books, historical documents and posters.

The goal of the museum is to educate the public and to promote a better understanding of how the modern printing press and printed communications contributed to the development of the civilized world.

Visitors will take a tour through history, chronicled by the advent and modernization of printing methods. The tour starts with the development of ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets, to the invention of moveable type, to Gutenberg's printing press. Along the way, visitors will gain a better understanding of how newspaper accounts of major wars, the distribution of the Gutenberg Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and other pivotal documents chronicle the printing revolution and its impact on society.

Artifacts in the Museum of Printing History include:

• A Pennsylvania Gazette printed by Ben Franklin in 1765
• Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals
• Ancient Papyrus Fragments
• Asian Movable Type & early Asian Printing
• Illuminated Manuscripts
• 1450 Gutenberg Press Replica
• Documents printed by Samuel Bangs, first printer in Texas, with one of his presses
• Antique Bookbinding Equipment