Registration | Accommodations & Transportation | Program | Sponsors | Visiting Rochester & RIT

The 40th annual American Printing History Association conference will re-examine the history and practice of operating some of our earliest printing machines — flat-bed handpresses in predominant use from the 15th to 19th centuries. Workshops, tours, lectures, papers and panels, and excursions in the Upstate York region will inform us of the creative ways these models are still employed by printers, artists, scholars, and educators. This conference will also investigate how these presses contribute to 21st-century teaching, historical studies, and fine printing.

A number of pre-conference tours and workshops on the RIT campus and at various sites in Rochester and Upstate New York are available on Thursday, October 22. On-site conference registration will be from 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. at the RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection. A multidisciplinary musical performance starting at 6 p.m. at the Cary concludes the day.

Registration continues Friday, October 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Cary. Enjoy socializing, site tours, open reading room hours, and a vendor fair during the day before the official program begins with the keynote address at the RIT University Gallery at 6 p.m., followed by a dinner reception.

On Saturday, October 24, the conference convenes at the RIT University Gallery for a plenary address, followed by three sessions of presentations at the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies conference facility on the campus. The day concludes with a ticketed banquet to celebrate bestowing of the RIT Goudy Award for Excellence in Typography.

Registration Overview

please read before registering

Registration is limited to 130 participants, and early registration is encouraged. Fees covering programs, receptions and meals at RIT on October 23 and 24 are $125.00 for current members of APHA ($150.00 after September 15), $50.00 for current student members* ($75.00 after September 15), and $175.00 for non-members.

During registration you will have the opportunity to register for several optional workshops on Thursday, 10/22, and Friday, 10/23, the optional excursion to the Bixler Letterfoundry on Thursday 10/22, and to reserve a table at the Vendor Fair. ⇒ Please add the options you would like when you register. See the program descriptions for more details on all these add-ons. Questions? Please write ameliafont@gmail.com | Registration

Cancellation Policy: All questions regarding registration should be directed to Sara Sauers, VP of Programs. All fees listed on the registration form are in US dollars. No refunds are given for cancellations made within the 30 days prior to the conference. Registrations may not be shared and are non-transferable.

Accommodations and Transportation

For the convenience of conference attendees, we have set aside a block of rooms at Radisson Rochester Airport. The Radisson is located a walkable one mile from the RIT Campus, and shuttles to the RIT campus can be arranged. To book, ask for the American Printing History Association room block. Room rates are $99 for single occupancy and $110 for double occupancy. These rates will be guaranteed until September 20, 2015. The RIT Inn & Conference Center will also supply comparable rates and shuttle transportation to the RIT campus. Attendees staying at other hotels must organize their own transportation.
Radisson Rochester Airport
175 Jefferson Road
Rochester NY, 14623
Telephone reservations, use registration code: 1015APHA
Online reservations, use promo code: 1015a
(585) 475-1910 or (800) 333-3333

RIT Inn & Conference Center
5257 West Henrietta Road
Henrietta, NY 14467
(585) 359-1800

Conference Program

pdf

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, pre-conference workshops and Tour

Registration required. First come, first served.

A DAY OF WOOD TYPE
Full day program is $90, includes bus transportation to 2 consecutive workshops in downtown Rochester. Limit 8 participants. Bus leaves from Radisson at 8:30 a.m.

9 a.m.–12 p.m.

Making Wood Type Today: Using the Same Methods from Yesteryear
Geri McCormick and Matt Rieck at Virgin Wood Type 
Tour Virgin Wood Type, observe the process of making wood type, and make your own piece of wood type. Virgin Wood Type houses the equipment and patterns from American Wood Type Manufacturing Company which was the last company in America to be making wood type. There are over a 150 patterns some of them from Stephenson Blake Type Foundry.

1 p.m.–4 p.m.

Druksels on the Handpress: Experimental Printing Based on the Work of H.N. Werkman
Jamie Mahoney at Rochester Arts Center
On his iron handpress, Dutch designer and printer, Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman experimented with wood type, printing blocks, and other type-high found material around his print shop in the early 20th century. He appropriated materials originally intended for verbal text to create typographic visual illustrations. This workshop is designed for participants to work with typographic materials and through hands-on play, learn about Werkman’s printing process only possible with a handpress. Together we will create colorful compositions printed by blocks that Werkman called “druksels.” Working in the same vein as Werkman, the workshop will produce a series of monoprints that promote the conference theme.

OPTIONAL CAMPUS WORKSHOPS
Registration required. First come, first served. Each single workshops is $30. 

9 a.m.–12 p.m.

Quality Assurances for Printing on the Hand Press
Chad Johnson at RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection, printing on an Albion handpress once owned by Frederic Goudy. Limit 6 participants.
Printing on an iron hand press is a crucial link to understanding how contemporary letterpress connects to the 500-year history of printing. While all the fundamentals of relief printing are involved, a printer using a hand press needs to address certain methods to insure quality printing. This workshop will focus on four specific variables:
• Inking: consistency, reproducibility, and application.

• Packing: outer and inner tympan, and hardness.

• Balancing the platen: controlling impression using platen bearers.
• Paper: thickness, surface, and dampening methods.
The demonstration will begin by locking up a set forme of type on the press, and then setting the roller and platen bearers. Next, the inking station and roller will be prepared with an overview of inks. The pins will be set on the tympan and make ready techniques and materials will be covered. After a proof is pulled, the platen bearers will be adjusted to balance the platen. With the press set, the choice of papers to be used in this demonstration will be discussed. Finally, proofs will be pulled with variations in inking & pressure to demonstrate outcomes.is today better known as pressure printing. His process entailed constructing a very heavy make-ready of cardboard and/or found objects, and several of John’s contemporaries also used it to good effect. If time allows a simple image will be attempted.

4-Up with a Side of Bearers
Marnie Powers-Torres at RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection, printing on the Kelmscott-Goudy Albion handpress. Limit 6 participants.
Leave the ink balls at home! With new-fangled roller and platen bearers, we’ll serve up some short-order printing with fine press flair. On an iron handpress, we’ll produce a collaborative booklet that dishes post-millennial perspective on the power of the platen. Our goal is a sheet printed 4-up, but the emphasis is on press set up, make ready, and inking rather than a (polished) product. No plates—we’ll rediscover the value of well-set type and a well-balanced platen.

LetterPress Remix: High Tech + Low Tech = New Tech
Adam Werth at RIT College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, printing in the RIT intaglio printmaking studio. Limit 8 participants.
The RIT Printmaking Department in the School of Art uses innovative “new” technologies and combines them with centuries-old hand-pulled printing, which results in a completely new hybrid that blurs historical definition of what a print is. Photopolymer film, which was developed for use in the circuit board etching industry, was repurposed and engineered through years of research by RIT professor Keith Howard, and developed into cutting-edge printmaking technology. Traditionally, intaglio printmaking required the use of toxic chemicals. This new technology is not only a health and safety related printmaking innovation, but also is a green alternative eliminating the need for costly operational procedures. The technology is incredibly versatile and opens the door for an infinite exploration of visual expression. The workshop will include an explanation of process and show examples of newly developed techniques. Participants will be able to make a small image using the photo intaglio process and after completion in the RIT printmaking studio, combine the print with text from the Cary’s letterpress collection. All materials will be included for the participants. This is an excellent opportunity for print enthusiasts to experiment with a well-documented versatile alternative to traditional methods of intaglio printing.

1–4:30 p.m.

Quality Assurances for Printing on the Hand Press
Chad Johnson at RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection, printing on an Albion handpress once owned by Frederic Goudy. Limit 6 participants.
Printing on an iron hand press is a crucial link to understanding how contemporary letterpress connects to the 500-year history of printing. While all the fundamentals of relief printing are involved, a printer using a hand press needs to address certain methods to insure quality printing. This workshop will focus on four specific variables:
• Inking: consistency, reproducibility, and application.

• Packing: outer and inner tympan, and hardness.

• Balancing the platen: controlling impression using platen bearers.
• Paper: thickness, surface, and dampening methods.
The demonstration will begin by locking up a set forme of type on the press, and then setting the roller and platen bearers. Next, the inking station and roller will be prepared with an overview of inks. The pins will be set on the tympan and make ready techniques and materials will be covered. After a proof is pulled, the platen bearers will be adjusted to balance the platen. With the press set, the choice of papers to be used in this demonstration will be discussed. Finally, proofs will be pulled with variations in inking & pressure to demonstrate outcomes.

TRIP TO BIXLER LETTERFOUNDRY
9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Full day program is $35, includes bus transportation to Skaneateles, New York. Tour of Bixler Press & Letterfoundry with demonstrations of Monotype type casting and lunch on your own in the picturesque lakeside village. Limit 20 participants. Bus leaves from Radisson at 8:30 a.m.

PERFORMANCE AND LECTURE
Open to the public.
6 p.m. (Reception just before performance, starts at 4:30.)

A Pushmi-pullyu: The Collaborative Multidisciplinary Work Process at VigodaPress
Gwido Zlatkes & Ann Frenkel at RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection
The speakers propose to present the stages of the artistic process used at VigodaPress, a publisher/ printer of hand crafted artists’ books, primarily translations of poetry and sheet music of original scores based on the poetry. The process includes the collaborative translation of texts, setting the texts to music, notating the scores, designing a book or broadside with the text and music, printing and binding, and finally performance of the work. The presentation will discuss the process of poetry translation and the role that setting the texts to music plays in the translation. They will demonstrate how the text and/or music determine the design of the book or broadside, and will also perform some of the musical compositions. Their artistic process evokes the pushmi-pullyu—a creature with two heads at opposite ends of its body as described in The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting, (1920). The pushmi-pullyu ultimately uses its two heads in a cooperative manner, a bit like the proprietors of VigodaPress.

Friday, OCTOBER 23, pre-conference events

OPTIONAL CAMPUS WORKSHOP
Registration required. First come, first served. Single workshop is $30. 
9 a.m.–12 p.m.

Printing Expressively with Furniture and Reglet, a Typographic Map
Suzanne Powney at RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection, printing on a Columbian handpress and Vandercook proof presses. Limit 8 participants.
Participants in this workshop will compose a type and image map to be created using only the materials already available in the studio, from type cases to furniture, and reglet as image. Participants will type set in wood and metal type on a letter size sheet of paper the cities/states where they have traveled. They will then overlay an abstract map of their city, using furniture and reglet set on quarter inch board to raise to type high and use the grain of the wood to embellish the image. Each participant would get a set of prints to take with them as a documentation of the experience. This collaborative map reflects the participants locations and diversity. The studio project is to produce type and image of each individual and explore different media, bringing the class together in a group project that speaks of the participants’ diversity.

TOURS
Drop-in to learn about archival and educational resources at RIT.
11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

Vignelli Center for Design Studies at Booth Hall
View the galleries and archives for the work of Massimo & Lella Vignelli.

10 a.m. & 2 p.m.

School of Media Sciences at Gannett Hall Lobby
Tour several printing and imaging labs with facility demonstrations.

11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

Image Permanence Institute at Gannett Hall Lobby
Behind-the-scenes with the renowned archival preservation foundation that serves collections worldwide.

VENDOR FAIR
12–4 p.m. at The Wallace Center at RIT, 2nd floor

Up to twenty vendors will be selling their wares, including tools, supplies, crafts, and fine art related to paper, print, and book arts. Refreshments sponsored by RIT Press.

OPEN READING ROOM
1:30–4:30 p.m. at RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection

View current works on display and learn about the collection’s history and contents.

Friday, OCTOBER 23, Main conference program

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
6 p.m.

Gutenberg’s World: How Printing Arose in 15th Century Mainz
Alix Christie at RIT University Gallery
Earth-shaking inventions don’t appear in a vacuum. Christie, the author of the recent novel Gutenberg’s Apprentice, will show how the invention of printing with movable type came about as the fruit of favorable circumstances in late medieval Germany. A letterpress printer, journalist, and novelist, Christie will discuss how Johann Gutenberg’s personal history intersected with the power of the Roman Catholic Church to produce the Bible of 42 lines between 1450 and 1454 in Mainz.

7 p.m.
Dinner at RIT University Gallery

Join friends and colleagues for a pasta extravaganza dinner with dessert. Wine and beer open bar.

saturday, OCTOBER 24, Main conference program

8:45–9:30 a.m.

Breakfast at RIT University Gallery
Gathering with continental breakfast and coffee.

PLENARY ADDRESS
9:30 a.m.

A Hands-On Approach to Printing History: Lessons Learned in the Construction of a Common Press
Jeffrey Groves at RIT University Gallery
In teaching a handpress printing workshop each semester, Jeff Groves begins by discussing the evolution of the iron handpresses that his students will use. During a recent sabbatical, he built a replica of Isaiah Thomas’s eighteenth-century common press to understand more fully the technological and practical shift from wood to iron in early nineteenth-century press construction. In this talk, Groves will discuss what he learned from his project and how it illuminates the material transition represented by the Columbian press, an iron press patented in the United States in 1813.
Dr. Groves appears due to the generous support of the Delmas Foundation.

Main conference lectures

The lectures are arranged into tracks that are grouped by themes. One may attend talks from different tracks throughout the conference. View speaker biographies on the roster page.

10:45 a.m.

TRACK 1: PRINTING PRACTITIONERS
2150 Louise M. Slaughter Hall
Analysis Of Typographical Trends In European Printing 1470–1660: Comparison of Automated Methods To Palaeotypographical Approaches
Charles A. Bigelow & Richard Zanibbi
Some Little-Known Sources for the History of Early American Printing Presses
Philip Weimerskirch

TRACK 2: HEAVY METAL, PRINTING HARDWARE
2240 Louise M. Slaughter Hall
A New Wooden Press for Everyone to Try: The Dürer Press
Richard Lawrence
Printer’s Ink Balls: Their History and Use
Stan Nelson

TRACK 3: MAKING IMPRESSIONS THROUGH TEACHING
2230 Louise M. Slaughter Hall
“Manageable Engine;” The Common Press as a Focus for Book History Pedagogy
Todd Samuleson
When the Printer is a Press: Teaching with the Common Press
Amanda Nelsen & Josef Beery

11:45 a.m., Lunch provided

1:30 p.m.

TRACK 1
Pulling the Devil by the Tail: Elizabeth Corbet Yeats’ Cuala Press
Kathleen Walkup
Frederic Goudy and the American Hands-on Hand Press Tradition
Richard Mathews

TRACK 2
Skills and Mechanization: The Transition from Hand Press to Cylinder
Stephen Sword
After the Iron Press: The Grasshopper
Jeff Pulaski

TRACK 3
Adopt-a-Font Condensed
Nancy Bernardo
Bootstrapping a New Student-Initiated Letterpress Club:A Case Study
Art Seto
Inspiring Young Designers with Letterpress Artifacts
Rob Saunders

2:30 p.m., Coffee & refreshments

3:00 p.m.

TRACK 1
The (Re)Birth of Roycroft Printing
Alan Nowicki
Lew Ney: Greenwich Village Printer
Julie Melby

TRACK 2
Restoring and Adjusting Two Iron Handpresses
Richard Minsky
One Press to Rule Them All: The Kelmscott/Goudy Legacy at the RIT Cary Collection
Amelia Hugill-Fontanel

TRACK 3
Printing and Interpreting at the Genesee Country Village Living History Museum on a 19th Century Washington Iron Handpress
David Damico
Letterpress Workshops at the Museum of Printing in North Andover, Massachusetts
Frank Romano

7:00 p.m. RIT Frederic W. Goudy Award lecture; RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection

Conference Sponsors

The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation promotes the advancement and perpetuation of humanistic inquiry and artistic creativity by encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the performing arts, and by supporting research libraries and other institutions which transmit our cultural heritage.

Established at RIT in 1969, the Cary Graphic Arts Collection is one of the country’s premier libraries on graphic communication history and practices. Originally comprised of books from the estate of Melbert B. Cary, Jr., the collection has expanded to include resources on the development of the alphabet, early book formats and manuscripts, calligraphy, typography, bookbinding, papermaking, printing and illustration processes, and artists’ books. The Cary also manages the RIT Graphic Design Archive comprised of 40-plus archives documenting the work of 20th-century Modernist designers.

The Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT houses the archive of Massimo and Lella Vignelli’s award-winning work. It serves also as an international hub for design education, preservation, collaboration, advocacy, public good, and globalism. The Vignelli archive includes an extensive collection of original source materials along with many examples of their finished work including iconic campaigns for Xerox, American Airlines, Bloomingdales and Ford Motor Co., as well as designs for jewelry, silverware, furniture, and more.

RIT Press is the scholarly book publishing enterprise at Rochester Institute of Technology. Dedicated to traditional publishing and the innovative use of new publishing technologies, RIT Press upholds the highest standards in content quality, publication design, and print/digital production.

The RIT School of Media Sciences is a world authority in the management, production and distribution of content through platforms including print, web, mobile and social media. Our programs focus on leadership and project management.

The Rochester Arts Center is a community-based non-profit that educates and inspires all people to create and enjoy the arts through hands-on programs in photography, pottery, and book arts. Begun in 2005, the Printing & Book Arts Center at the Rochester Arts Center offers classes in letterpress printing, etching, screen printing, bookbinding, paper making, and calligraphy. Additional services include the studio rentals for personal production, exhibitions of artists’ work, and youth programs.

Visiting Rochester & RIT

Rochester is a metropolitan region situated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario is also part of New York’s breathtaking Finger Lakes region. The third largest city in New York State, the greater Rochester region is inhabited by a little more than one million people. Conveniently located, Rochester is a six hour drive from New York City, 3½ hours from Toronto and 90 minutes from Niagara Falls.

Rochester sits at the center of 100 Must-See Miles of the Erie Canal which when opened in 1825, made Rochester the country’s first “boomtown.” Today, the historic canal thrives as an active recreational waterway with towpaths, shops and charming towns telling America’s story of “how the west began!” Rochester is home to two national historic landmarks open to the public, the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House and George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. Adults and children are entertained in the second largest children’s museum in the U.S., at the National Museum of Play at The Strong also home to the National Toy Hall of Fame.

Founded in 1829, Rochester Institute of Technology is a privately endowed, coeducational university with nine colleges emphasizing career education and experiential learning. The campus occupies 1,300 acres in suburban Rochester, the third-largest city in New York state. The RIT student body consists of approximately 15,000 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate students.

The campus is located close to the Rochester International Airport and the New York State Thruway. The Cary Graphic Arts Collection is located on the second floor of the Wallace Library, building WAL on the map. The Vignelli Center is building VIG on the map. The closest restaurants and bookstores to campus are located at the Park Point and South Towne shopping centers.