[r]Evolution in Print: New Work in Printing History & Practice [2005]

The American Printing History Association held its annual conference in the San Francisco Bay Area from September 22-23, 2005. The conference convened in San Francisco at the historic Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Thursday evening and continued on Friday at Mills College in Oakland with papers and panels. (See late-breaking news below for any updates.)

The conference will begin Thursday evening with our keynote speaker Professor Paul Duguid spoke on "From Gutenberg to Project Gutenberg and Beyond." Professor Duguid had been recently appointed Professorial Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London. (Our original speaker, Geoffrey Nunberg, was forced to withdraw.)

Friday September 23 saw a full day of conference papers and panels at our host Mills College. The list of speakers and presenters included Jon Bath, Stanley Boorman, Barbara Brannon, Rachel Chico, Dan Franklin, E.M. Ginger, Judy Harvey-Sahak, Dennis Ichiyama, Mary Catherine Johnsen , Alastair Johnston, Peter Koch, Stephen MacLeod, Kitty Marryatt, Maria Pisano , Will Powers, Kenneth Price, Jennifer Schaffner, Paul Shaw, Elysa Voshell, and Philip Weimerskirch. They addressed a range of topics from music printing in the sixteenth century to the production of nineteenth century Mexican pocket guides to type for twenty-first century books. Workshops  included collograph printing, a demonstration of laser cutting, and an opportunity for conference attendees to print their own keepsake using both a Vandercook and the 1860 Albion handpress. Details of papers and panels are contained in the downloadable conference brochure and registration form (PDF/100K).

Although the conference had formally ended, Saturday, September 24 featured several optional activities and tours for conference attendees, including the San Francisco Center for the Book's annual "Steamroller Prints." In addition, on Saturday afternoon, the University of San Francisco's Gleeson Library hosted our 2005 Lieberman Lecture, to be given by Richard-Gabriel Rummonds.

Early arrivals on Wednesday September 21 were invited to a lecture by John D. Berry on "Shaping the News in the Digital Age: Typography & Image on Modern Newsprint" at 6 p.m. at the Arion Press/Grabhorn Institute. 1802 Hays Street, The Presidio, San Francisco. The lecture was sponsored by the Grabhorn Institute. For more information or reservations (recommended) call (415) 561-2548. (Admission: $10, free to students.)

Late Breaking News

Dormitory Reservations
The contact for reserving dorm rooms at Mills College has changed since the brochure was printed. For dorm room reservations only, please call 510-430-2063 or email rsears@mills.edu. (7/28/2005)

Other Hotels
The San Francisco convention bureau website offers discounts if you book through them. Online travel services such as www.hotels.com and www.expedia.com also may offer discounts.

Speaker Change
Geoffrey Nunberg has had to withdraw as our keynote speaker. Professor Paul Duguid has agreed to speak on "From Gutenberg to Project Gutenberg and Beyond." Professor Duguid has recently been appointed Professorial Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London.

APHA BookFest!
APHA's conference will also host BookFest, a select group of booksellers and booklovers' groups, in conjunction with the conference. Representatives will include: Chronicle Books, Cynthia Imperatore Books, Larry Warnock Fine Arts, Octavo Editions, Oak Knoll Press, and Vamp & Tramp Booksellers, along with the Associates of the Stanford University Libraries and Bookbuilders West, an organization of publishing professionals. Mills College's Eucalyptus Press and the Mills Center for the Book will also participate. Conference participants may attend this exciting related event and have the opportunity to purchase artists' books, prints, scholarly books on the history of printing, poetry broadsides, and fine press books. You must be registered for the conference to attend BookFest.

Mills College. Mills College was founded in 1852 and sits on a park-like 135 acre residential campus at the foot of the Oakland Hills. Its Special Collections and Archive supports a renowned Book Arts Program. Mills has offered pioneering curriculum in Book Arts since the early 1980s. Students can choose from classes in various aspects of Book Arts, from letterpress printing and experimental printmaking to the study of contemporary book structures and the historical and conceptual foundations of contemporary artists’ bookmaking.

For more information about the area including up-to-date weather, restaurants, entertainment, art venues, and maps go to:

www.sfgate.com/traveler/
www.sfvisitor.org 

Contacts. For questions regarding the conference, email local organizer Janice Braun at apha2005@mills.edu or telephone 510.430.2047.  An innovative program has been put together by the Program Committee Chair Kathleen Walkup (Associate Professor and Director of the Book Arts Program at Mills College) with the assistance of other local scholars and professionals.

• Old document: Final program and schedule (PDF/180K)
• Old document: Conference brochure and registration form (PDF/100K)
• Old documents: Call for Papers (html) or PDF version (370K)

Apart from its conference, APHA supports research and scholarship through its journal Printing History, publications, an oral history project, and a fellowship program. The association, founded in 1974, encourages the preservation of printing artifacts and source materials for printing history.

More information about APHA Conferences is here.

A list of past conferences is here.