NYNew York field entry
Bowne & Co., Stationers
New York, NY
A working South Street Seaport Museum shop where contemporary stationery, books and paper goods sit beside letterpress printing, historic equipment and demonstrations rooted in New York's long printing trade.
Bowne & Co., Stationers is a museum-operated retail shop and working letterpress destination where visitors can buy paper goods while seeing printing history practiced next door.
Field notes
Why it belongs
Museum shop, independent stationery store, working letterpress office, historic printing demonstration space, workshop program and custom-printing service.
A real stationery store operates as the retail half of a working museum print shop filled with historic presses, type and active letterpress practice.
Bowne & Co., Stationers occupies 211 Water Street as the retail side of the South Street Seaport Museum's Bowne operation, with the Printing Office at neighboring 209 Water Street. The stationers shop sells letterpress cards, notebooks, books, prints, paper goods and gifts, while the connected working program uses historic presses and type for demonstrations, workshops and job printing. The original Bowne business dates to 1775; today's museum shop was created in 1975 as an offshoot and interpretation, not an uninterrupted claim that the exact retail operation has run continuously since 1775. No museum admission ticket is required to enter the shop.
Store contents
What you will find
Directory categories
Known for
- Letterpress stationery
- Historic printing presses
- Movable type
- Printing demonstrations
- Custom job printing
- Workshops
- South Street Seaport Museum