Volvelle in the second edition of Thurneisser’s Archidoxa, 1575, a work on astrology printed at his private press in Berlin. Enlarged detail, right. (Saxon State Library, Universitätsbibliothk Dresden)
3:15-4:15 pm saturday, october 8
Philip J. Weimerskirch: Leonhard Thurnheisser (1531-1596): Alchemist, Astrologer, Printer, Typefounder, & Papermaker ♥Mary Catharine Johnsen: From Magic to Science with Johannes Müller von Königsberg
Longtime APHA member and frequent presenter, Phil Weimerskirch talked about the life of Leonhard Thurneisser (1531–1596) and the books he wrote and printed. He was an alchemist, astrologer, medical practitioner, printer, typefounder and papermaker, among other things. Much has been published about him, but nearly all of it is in German. There have also been two recent exhibitions about his life and work, one in Basle and one in Berlin. [Read more]
L: Blake’s “The Temptation and Fall of Eve,” 1808. One of the illustrations in Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” The Butts Set. (William Blake Archive). R: A composite of three common presses from the early, middle, and late eighteenth century. (Seth Gottlieb)
4:30-5:30 pm friday, october 7
Illusory Painting: The History of Hidden Fore-Edge Pictures, Isabel Einaudi Cardiff (Mills College, Oakland CA)
False Imprints, New Ways of Reading Work, Emma Studebaker (Mills College, Oakland CA)
The Design Evolution of the Eighteenth-Century English Wooden Common Press, Seth Gottlieb & Veronica Hebbard (Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY)
Satanic Knowledge: Milton and the Argument for Unlicensed Printing, Kalie McGuirl (Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington MA)
Moderated by Sara Sauers, APHA’s Vice President for Programs, this is the first APHA conference to feature undergraduate paper presentations. [Read more]
Cover and first page for The Black Art printed and published by Goudy’s Camelot Press.
11:15 am-12:15 pm saturday, october 8
Dianne L. Roman: The Devil Wore a Dress ♠ Steve Matteson: Black Art to Blackletter: Frederic Goudy’s First Foray into Print and his Last Word in Type Design
The typeface designer Steve Matteson and Dianne L. Roman, a doctoral student in printing history, gave presentations on printers’ devils both celebrated and unknown. Matteson spoke on the first and final works of typographical superstar Frederic Goudy (1865–1947), Roman on a number of nineteenth-century American women whose contributions to printing have been largely underrepresented by historians. [Read more]
Esoteric themed devices of Erhardt Ratdolt, Ouroboros Press and Three Hands Press.
1:15-2:45 pm saturday, october 8
William Kiesel: Printers Devices in Esoteric Publishing ♦Robert Cagna: “Secret” Engraving Marks and Other Mysterious Printing on Postage Stamps ♦Pamela Barrie: Emblem & Mechanism: George Clymer’s Columbian Press as Neoclassical Hieroglyph
William Kiesel vividly brought his topic to life through several visual examples. He showed some devices with which many in the audience were familiar dating back to beginning of printing, such as the saddlebags of Fust and Schoeffer and the anchor and dolphin of Aldus Manutius. He discussed some of the early symbolism and common device ideas. Kiesel covered the meaning of several devices through examination and analysis, elaborating on those things that influenced names and symbols and going into some detail. Kiesel shifted the discussion to both the historical and contemporary examples of printer’s devices used in occult and esoteric publications. Kiesel drew the audience in by explaining how these symbols were chosen and their meanings related to the work produced by individual presses. Watermarks in esoteric and occult publishing were also briefly discussed along with the potential impact of new technologies and the relative ease and simplicity of publishing and what a device might disclose about the nature of the kinds of work they produce. Future plans for research and sources of more information were also presented. [Read more]
Michaela Rae Ryerson Baca: Blood Book: The Magic of Henry Cornelius Agrippa’s De occulta philosophia libris tres ♦Todd Samuelson: The Alchemy of Erasure: Book Waste as Evidence ♦Laura Forsberg: Magic & the Miniature Book
Michaela Rae Ryerson Baca, presented findings on her examination of marginalia in a copy of Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia Libris Tres (Occult Philosophy in Three Books), believed to have been published with all three texts combined for the first time in 1533. These texts covered the elemental world, physical and celestial objects, mathematics, and the religious and divine. [Read more]
Alchemists revealing secrets from the Book of Seven Seals, detail of watercolor in The Ripley Scroll, England, ca. 1700. (Getty Research Institute, 950053)
Carollee Campbell, proprietor of the Ninja Press, introduced the three plenary panelists from the Getty Research Institute. They discussed the exhibition of the Art of Alchemy, which APHA members would be fortunate enough to preview the following day. [Read more]
Both speakers in this session summoned science. But just a dram of detail is divulged now. Mr. Barnum’s talk (Mr. Cameron did not attend) will be posted in full on this website after all the conference events are summarized. Prof. Risseeuw’s investigations are ongoing, therefore the aim is to avoid mischaracterizing his conclusions. [Read more]
Scribe re-lettering a Torah scroll to keep it kosher. (Tom Kilpatrick)
9:30-11:00 am saturday, october 8
Myra Mossman: Sacred Scribes, Profane Publishers, Unfortunate Mystics ♣ Karen Wahl: Printing Developments in Malleus Malificarum “The Witches’ Hammer” ♣ Grendl Löfkvist: The Devil is in the Details: Conjuring the Spirit of the Book (The Challenges involved in printing a 21st Century Grimoire)
This panel featured three presentations that connect the gritty practicalities of the printer’s craft with the mystical effects and outcomes that printed books can enable or engender. [Read more]
Mark Barbour introduces us to the International Printing Museum’s late-nineteenth-century “Grasshopper” newspaper press. (Jess Touchette)
friday, october 7
Working Tour at the International Printing Museum in Carson
Mark Barbour, Founding Curator and Executive Director of the International Printing Museum in Carson, California, led us on a three-hour tour of the museum’s exhibition space. The huge, high-ceilinged building is packed with an impressive array of working nineteenth- and twentieth-century presses and printing tools, yet houses only a portion of founder Ernest A. Lindner’s Collection of Antique Printing Machinery, as quite a few pieces remain in storage due to lack of space. [Read more]
Every person who registered for this year’s APHA conference “The Black Art & Printer’s Devils : The Magic, Mysticism, and Wonders of Printing History” undoubtedly shared a least one (or several) moments of thinking, “Well, what’s this going to be like?” when looking over the program. The speakers presented a rich menu of surprises and enticements. And leading that bill of surprises was the keynote speaker on Friday evening, October 7, the bibliophile, scholar and performer, Ricky Jay. [Read more]
