Edward Petko

Dr. Petko has quietly promoted the development of printing history and book arts programs throughout the Southwest for decades. An avid collector of presses, type, and letterpress equipment, he has made these precious resources available to a large number of institutions. His desire to encourage interest in the history of printing and to promote continued work with historic printing equipment has succeeded in inspiring incredible growth and excitement in our field. Some of the institutions which have benefited from his largess include Arizona State University, UCLA, UC Riverside, California State LA, Harvey Mudd College, the University of Southern California, and the California State Library among others.

BRAD FREEMAN

Covers of the Journal of Artists’ Books.

Brad has been the publisher and editor of the Journal of Artists’ Books from 1994–2020. This journal earned an international reputation as a forum for lively debate in the growing field of artists’ books during an important period of renewed activity and focus on historical methods of printing. In addition to nurturing this publication and the activities of folks in this field, Brad has been an active printer and educator. His hands-on work editing, designing, and actually printing this publication in lithographic print shops at SUNY-Purchase, New York; Nexus Press, Atlanta; and Columbia College, Chicago, demonstrated the vital role of historic printing technology in a world enduring the rapid technological changes of the digital revolution.

Jenna Rodriguez, Print Production Fellow, 2012. MFA Interdisciplinary Book Arts Program, Columbia College Chicago.

Since 1974 the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York, has provided classes and support encouraging the creation of artists’ books. Frequently produced on historic equipment, the printing of artists’ books has been a major force in the preservation of historic printing equipment as well as in the founding of centers providing public access to printing and training on historic equipment. The Women’s Studio Workshop is one of the largest publishers of artists’ books in addition to originating exhibitions and providing lectures around the country.

The American Printing History Association is pleased to support Marina Garone Gravier‘s research project “Latin American type specimens before 1950: towards a hand list.” Her proposed project to collect typographic specimens into a scholarly database is innovative and much needed. It will benefit all who study the history of the printed book, typefaces, and typographic design. We are pleased to be associated with her research. 

Academic book art programs are important contributors to the study of historical printing methods. Founded ninety years ago, the Mills College Book Art Program has taken the lead in developing academic programming that became the model for other institutions. Renowned for developing undergraduate and MFA courses of study and hosting prominent practitioners and scholars in the field, Mills has been central to the establishment of this now respected area of study.

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr has introduced thousands of people worldwide to the historic traditions of printing by sharing hands-on activities celebrating wood type and antique presses. Using these historic tools he has brought groups together to explore their aspirations utilizing the power of the press to print ideas and then distribute and display them in their communities as handmade posters. His remarkable work has helped build community while sharing the history of this essential technology.

Nadirah Mansour, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University

“An Intellectual History of the 19th Century Transition from Arabic Manuscript to Arabic Print” seeks to determine what intellectual trends shaped Arabic print across the Arabic-speaking world, from which books were printed and why they were printed to the advent of the Arabic-language newspaper. Mansour’s multidisciplinary approach will bring together Middle Eastern-North African history and Islamic studies as well as different genres of Arabic thought, from journalism to Muslim devotional texts, in an attempt to build a history of early Arabic mass print. The Mark Samuels Lasner Fellowship will be used to support a month-long trip to Rabat, Morocco, where Mansour will conduct research using the Rare Books Collection at Muhammad V University and the National Archives of Morocco.

The Press and Letterfoundry of Michael and Winfred Bixler houses one of the most extensive collections of English Monotype type and ornaments in North America. Michael and Winfred Bixler have been involved in fine printing since the late 1960s and have built a reputation on their unparalleled attention to style and detail in the composition of beautiful books. Their client list has included almost every notable fine press of the late twentieth century. Their generous spirit and active support of young designers and printers has had a remarkable impact and is evidenced in their ongoing association with the educational programs of Wells College among other institutions.

Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus at the Rochester Institute of Technology, has been a remarkable industry leader in this era of revolutionary change in the graphics industry. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities at several universities, and work providing professional assistance to industry and government, he has researched and authored important books on the dynamic changes in the worlds of type and printing. He has served as founding editor and publisher for at least eight professional journals and continues to write monthly in the graphic industry’s most prominent publications. He has spoken at almost every industry conference for decades. He is President of the Museum of Printing in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a renowned repository for archives of metal and phototype and home to an impressive stable of historic presses and typesetting equipment.

8Since it was founded by Kenneth J. Carpenter over thirty years ago, the Black Rock Press at the University of Nevada, Reno has been dedicated to the practice and teaching of the arts and crafts associated with the creation of finely printed books. The press now has a national reputation for its outstanding work and has become a living museum of traditional printing technology, housing a variety of cabinets Filled with metal type, and a number of historically significant printing presses. Its centerpiece, a gilded 1837 super-royal Columbian iron handpress, is one of the finest examples of a nineteenth century iron handpress to be found anywhere in the country There is a link from the site to a Quicktime movie of the Columbian Press in action.