Our Story

In 1878, John Dempsey, an accomplished engraver, and George D. Carroll, a businessman, opened Dempsey & Carroll at 36 East 14th Street in New York City. The stationer soon became a social tastemaker, providing the best in engraved product to the city’s Gilded Age elite.

Like no other stationer in the world, Dempsey & Carroll has enjoyed for over 125 years a spotless reputation as the finest purveyor of engraved social stationery. By using hand-engraved steel dies and copper plates made to specification, the finest inks, and the most luxurious cotton-fiber papers, Dempsey & Carroll creates a rich experience for both the giver and receiver of personal correspondence. The company’s commitment to craft, exacting standards, meticulous attention to detail and warm customer service have distinguished its business for the truly discriminating.

Personalized engraved stationery, such as social notes and sheets, wedding invitations and birth announcements, and boxed sets of motif cards, which are “ready to write,” are available through select dealers, at the company’s New York City retail store, by telephone at 877 750 1878, and online at www.dempseyandcarroll.com.

About Engraving

Dempsey & Carroll stationery is created using handcrafted steel dies and copper plates. Words and images are cut into the metal in an incuse fashion, a method similar to that used in manufacturing coins that has changed little since the sixteenth century process of engraving ascended to an art form.

After the final hand-cutting of the image, the die or plate is placed into the engraving press. The press quickly inks the plate and wipes off the excess before each impression, while the paper is fed by hand into the impression area one piece at a time. Approximately three thousand pounds of pressure is applied to the paper, which causes the ink in the incused areas to adhere. Each color in a multi-color design requires its own die and a separate run through the press. Some of our motif cards also use a “bump,” a die that pushes the image up from the paper.

Careful inspection of the reverse of the paper will reveal the impression area, called a “bruise.” The bruise and the tactile feel of raised matte ink on the front of the paper are the signatures of genuine engraving and help to distinguish it from the many imitation processes.

Dempsey & Carroll is one of only a handful of stationers still using these distinctive hand-engraving techniques to create beautiful luxury paper products with their own unique stamp of history and tradition.