I am writing a Grade 5 book on John Dunlap’s broadside and I wanted to follow up on some questions I put to your members some time ago. Is Rich Hopkins is still available to answer a few questions by email? Is there anyone else who can tell me about the effects of the revolution on types those days, and on the process that night? I am particularly interested in how and why printers really felt their calling was an artform, not just everyday labor. Thanks, Jenny Green
1). If an Englishman purchased a printing press in 1826, is there a way to know what kind it would have been? Were there many kinds in production at that time? [Read more]
I’m a researcher trying to figure out how a particular newsletter published in the 1920s was produced. Looking around online, it looks like some kind of mimeography, but I’m not sure. Is there anyone in your network whom I could talk to? I have lots of scans and photos that I can share. Daniel Ohanian PhD Student in History University of California, Los Angeles
I’m on the trail of a 1792 Washington peace medal that is related to archaeological research I have been involved with in western PA at the request of the Seneca Nation of Indians. We have indications that a surviving 1792 peace medal was cast in 1916 in Millvillage, PA, perhaps in plaster, before being turned into a metal dye (or is block the proper term?) for making a halftone print. [Read more]
Hello, I’m a grad student studying for my MLIS and taking a class called the history of the book. I’m in Boston so was not able to travel to your recent conference. There were several session papers mentioned on your conference website that would be great to read for a research project I’m working on. [Read more]
Can you help me find a reference for the statement that the first school of printing in the U.S. was in New Harmony, Indiana, beginning in 1826. This statement occurs without a reference in an article, “The Old Printing Office in New Harmony,” (Indiana Magazine of History, vol, 33, issue 4, Dec. 1937, page 431.) The article can be downloaded from https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/issue/view/813. Thank you. —Clark Kimberling
I am seeking information with regards to the Gamma-Rotary press, which I believe was used in Germany during WWII. It is a small upright manually operated press that had tactical military value, especially in printing propaganda leaflets. Any assistance would be much appreciated. Thank you. Douglas Elwell
I am working on a book about the relationship between Benjamin Franklin and his business partner and friend, James Parker. Among the areas I am exploring are how both had owned slaves. Parker was in New York City in 1741, for example, and may have been around for at least parts of the so-called slave conspiracy. Later, Parker would pay off a debt to Franklin by sending him a slave named George. I have two questions that I was hoping to find answers to here. [Read more]
Hello, I am the sales/marketing director at HKM Direct Market Communications in Cleveland, Ohio, and one of the surviving commercial printers in our area. We are celebrating our 100th anniversary this year and will be doing parties and a media campaign. I have been digging but no luck trying to find out how many printers were in Cleveland by the decade beginning in 1950 until today. Also would like to have the same stats for the US. Can you help us? Thank you! Carla
Hello, my name is Florian and I’m a French student in typography!
I am currently writing a dissertation about gender and typography for my diploma, and one of my main references is the “Masculine typography” speech of Theodore Low De Vinne. [Read more]
