Bowne & Co.

Bowne & Co. Stationers in the South Street Seaport have had a rough couple of years; the latest is the three feet of flood water that damaged their collection of rare nineteenth century type:

Bowne & Co., Stationers and Bowne Printers took just under three feet of salt water in superstorm Sandy, submerging around 230 cases of wood and lead type and lots of letterpress miscellany.

Robert Warner, Ali Osborn, and Gideon Finck are leading the rescue; wonderful and brave volunteers have been working every day to rinse, clean, and dry the type.

Robert Warner at Bowne is welcoming volunteers to help wash and dry metal and wood type. The museum has made progress cleaning up but still doesn’t have power and may not until November 11.

Prospective volunteers should contact Franny Kent at fkent@mcny.org to schedule a full afternoon shift (12:00pm-4:30pm). Checks can be made out to South Street Seaport Museum, designated for Bowne in the memo line, and mailed to 12 Fulton Street, New York NY 10038. To make a gift online, click here.