Melbert Cary founded the Press of the Woolly Whale in order to print works that he believed to have been unjustly neglected. The Press, located in New York, operated from 1928 until Cary's death in 1941. One of the Press's best-known works, a copy of which can be found in Special Collections, purports to be an account of the discovery of some long-lost woodblocks used by Gutenberg. Although entirely invented, this account was taken seriously by some historians of printing. Cary was also responsible for importing to the United States many typefaces that had previously only been used in Europe.

Special Collections has the following items printed at or published by the Press of the Woolly Whale:

• Cary, Melbert. A Bibliography of the Village Press: 1903-1938. New York: 1938. Z232.G68 C3 1938
• Cary, Melbert. The Missing Gutenberg Wood Blocks. New York: 1940. Z126.Z7 C3
• Fuhrmann, Otto Walter. Gutenberg and the Strasbourg Documents of 1439: An Interpretation. New York: 1940. Z126 .F96 1940
• Goudy, Frederic William. The Story of the Village Type. New York: 1933. Z232.G68 A3 1933
• Morris, William. Some Thoughts on the Ornamented Mss. of the Middle Ages. New York: 1934. ND2920 .M6 1934