Because a private press is a personal and individual thing, the tradition is strong that each press should have its own special name, and that a name belongs to whomever uses it first.
The late Elizabeth and J. Ben Lieberman, proprietors of the Herity Press, undertook in 1960 an impartial service to register private press names in order to help printers choose a unique press name. This service is the International Register of Private Press Names.
From 1960 through 1982, the Liebermans published The Check-Log of Private Press Names as a contribution to the private press movement. In 2008, with the permission of the Lieberman’s son Jethro, Briar Press assumed responsibility for maintaining the International Register, bringing its contents to the web.
We invite private press props (proprietors) to register their press names, and to use this resource as a guide to choosing a name. The service is free, as it has always been.
So long as the private press
wears liberty as her crown
the people are free.
—J. Ben Lieberman