As part of its 250th anniversary commemorations, the Imprensa Nacional– Casa da Moeda (Portuguese Mint and O cial Printing O ce) hasorganised an extensive, shared programme of initiatives that includes publishing and cultural activities, as well as those that enhance the company’s historical heritage, from its creation by royal charter on 24 December 1768 until the present day. An asset of national importance with a history entwined with that of the country as a whole, these commemorations necessarily involve a vast group of partners and are aimed at the general public.
The O cial Printing O ce merged with the Portuguese Mint in July 1972and today continues in its mission as a public publishing house, cultural agent and promotor of Portuguese language and culture, as well as being responsible for the publication of the electronic version of Diário da República and for the production, in its graphics department, of books,publications, lea ets, bulletins, stamps and certi cates, as well as othersecurity documents.
Throughout its long history as the state publishing house, the O cial Printing O ce has followed technological and professional development,nationally and internationally, in the area of the graphic arts and is renowned for its training of engravers, lithographers, typographers, punchcutters and many other artists who put these techniques intopractice. It is also worth noting that since its creation the O cial Printing O ce has provided artistic and technical education fundamental to theindustrial production of the graphic arts and which, in the 19th and 20thcenturies, was prominent within the sector at national level.
The commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the O cial Printing O ce also provide a moment of re ection on its public mission in termsof the promotion of culture and access to knowledge, fundamental elements for democratic sustainability. This mission also responds to current and future challenges, associated with graphic security printing and broadening access to knowledge in the digital era.
This issue evokes the past, present and future of the O cial Printing O ce, both in its cultural vocation and its supplementary editorialproduction, in the service of public interest. The two stamps shown were designed by Eduardo Aires, including, in their historical component, aphotographic record of the library of the O cial Printing O ce, builtin 1923, which currently holds a bibliographic collection of around 20 thousand volumes. The second stamp, referring to the present-dayO cial Printing O ce, evokes a contemporary and modernised editorialmission responding to current challenges, as well as its responsibility in the context of the promotion of Portuguese language and culture. This concept is materialised in an adaptation of the pieces of communicationdeveloped by Eduardo Aires in parallel with the new O cial Printing O ce brand.
As it marks two and a half centuries of continuous publishing activity, theO cial Printing O ce remains true to its essential founding principles,based on serving culture and citizenship.
Imprensa Nacional – Casa da Moeda
