Christopher Manson was born in Buffalo, New York. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and a master's degree in fine arts from the State University College at New Paltz, New York. He worked for the Arts Council of Buffalo and Erie County, as well as an off-Broadway theater company in New York City, and he taught at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. He has been working with letterpress printing for about twenty years, combining his interest in literature with his illustrations using woodcuts and linoleum cuts. He has also taught letterpress workshops in his extensive home studio with two printing presses and a great deal of metal type. While most of the world is involved with computers, he has been resolutely marching into the past. He plans to continue with his work for as long as possible.