Abstract: An ink ribbon arrangement for a high speed printer, wherein the printer has a printing device which is movable in a given direction with respect to a recording medium. The ink ribbon comprises a pair of spools, and ribbon guides for guiding the ribbon between these spools in a path such that the ink ribbon extends past the printing device. The spools and the ribbon guides are mounted to form a single unit that is pivotally movable about an axis normal to the direction of relative movement between the printing device and recording medium. The unit may thus be moved to a printing position, wherein the ribbon extends obliquely with respect to the relative direction of movement between the printing device and the recording medium, and to a further position at which it extends substantially parallel to and below a line of text printed on the recording medium, thereby enabling reading of the line of text.