Gomer Press

Gomer Press specialise in book printing and binding. We can run full colour, two colour and mono books with cased hardback binding and limp binding as well as lamination and foil blocking all in house.

Books are produced on our B1 Heidelberg XL106 LE-UV perfecting press and our Kolbus binding line.

We run a state-of-the-art B1 UV litho press. This offers the benefit of printed sheets which are fully dry, and UV cured straight off the machine. Sheets are immediately ready to fold, without the need for a coating which can flatten colours, or spot varnish which adds considerably to cost. In addition, the press offers new options to print on uncoated papers without the usual loss of brightness associated with this type of sheet.

At the age of 7, on 25th April 1866 John David Lewis, the founder of Gwasg Gomer, wrote in his diary:

“My father commenced shopkeeping on his own account at his own home, Red Lion, opposite Ty Main”.

The business prospered and was successful, moving into larger premises. J.D. Lewis grew up helping run the shop, but also nurturing a lifelong love of books and reading.

So perhaps it is not surprising that when his father died in 1889 J.D. Lewis began to stock books among the groceries, ironmongery, cloth and corn at the “Market Stores” and his dream of establishing a printing press began to take hold of him.

In 1892 he bought his first press in Brecon and as he had no knowledge of the printing process of the time, he advertised for a journeyman printer. The appointment of a nineteen-year-old who had served his apprenticeship in Anglesey proved to be a solid foundation for the success of his enterprise.

The name Gomerian Press was almost certainly chosen due to J.D. Lewis’ high regard for the Revd Joseph Harris (1773-1825) whose nom de plume was Gomer.

In 1894 the first book was published, Hanes Plwyf Llandysul. The 350 pages were typeset letter by letter, by hand, with some 2000 pieces of type on each page.

Records indicate that the business grew apace in the early part of the 20th century and the unexpected death of J.D. Lewis from what would today be regarded as a simple complaint was a severe blow to the family as well as the wider community. He left behind four sons, and the task of keeping the presses running fell to the eldest, David Lewis. The next significant development was the purchase of mechanically operated typesetting machinery – at the height of the depression in 1926.

This decision was to serve the company well until superceded by the advent of computer assisted equipment in the early 1970s. Up-to-date printing machinery was also purchased in the 1930s and the Wharfedale cylinder was responsible for printing books for some of Wales’ leading publishers.

In 2004 the business moved from its home of 112 years to a new purpose-built site on the outskirts of Llandysul to continue to expand and develop. Today that factory houses a state-of-the-art Heidelberg XL106 perfecting press with UV drying as well as correspondingly advanced computer-to-plate and binding facilities. The love for books and printing that first inspired J.D. Lewis is still there in the fourth generation of the Lewis family now running the business.

Gomer Press ran a successful publishing department from 1892 until 2021. The decision was made to cease all publishing activities and the publishing arm of the business was sold in 2021.

• Gomer Press website