APHA’s 2026 Awards ceremony will feature an award recognizing Pyramid Atlantic Art Center (Hyattsville, MD) for its distinguished contributions to the study, recording, preservation, and dissemination of printing history.

Additionally, the award for Individual Laureate will go to Dr. Elizabeth Savage (University of London).

A Zoom meeting is scheduled the first week of every month for ANY interested people who want to talk about what they are up to. Join us. Once a month. Rotates Monday – Thursday. Don’t have to be an APHA member. Any issue related to the basics of APHA. You’re free to just listen. Each session is hopefully limited to 8 – 10 minutes for EACH topic and discussion. It’s OK to have more than one topic. Can only be there for a bit? Email Ray Nichols, and he’ll see that you go early. Don’t feel bad about needing to leave the discussion. Register & sign in at this URL:

https://printinghistory-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/0fJhwcqQTVeTq1oLeOB6DQ

Here are highlights from our
January 7, 2026
“What I’m UP To” discussion

Attending: Scip Barnhart,  Jill Cypher, Lauren Emeritz, Mal Haselberger, Melanie Leung, Carol Maurer, Randy Newcomer, Ray Nichols, Jon Raedeke, & Casey Smith.

A new attendee tonight was Jon Raedeke, who showed the group around his garage letterpress studio in Montgomery Village, MD. He presented 3 printed incunable leaves acquired from William Lockwood, Creekside Press, where he also obtained his printing presses and type. He requested advice in framing / preserving the leaves so that both sides could be viewed, and Melanie Leung, Folger Library, suggested freezing them to slow down any mold that may be present. Jon first learned letterpress printing from Amos Kennedy, Detroit, MI.

Randy Newcomer has been taking a small press to events and printing his APA requirements as demos. The Ephrata Historical Society has acquired a Golding Jobber (plus contents of said shop) and are bursting at the seams.  He has a newly acquired font of chess pieces (bring a proof to the next meeting) for newspapers which he is excited to print. Randy reports that the nearby Landis Valley State Museum has a large Adam Ramage floor model press in storage (but accessible, and we weould love to see a photo) which features a metal bed and tympan with unusual wooden uprights. Ray Nichols asked him to take pictures to add to the APHA site and Casey asked about a repeat visit to Ephrata for members who were not able to attend in 2022.

Casey Smith reminded the group about the Frederick Book Arts Center’s Litho Church held regularly on Sundays. Scip Barnhart, who leads the sessions, revealed a poster for the “church” meetings printed in a large handset Bodoni wood type donated earlier to FBAC by Lead Graffiti. Use of the FBAC print studio is available at the rate of $25 for 3 hours.

Mal Haselberger, Charles County, MD, reported that a paper she presented at a previous APHA conference is to be published in March in a book of 100 articles on Feminist Typography. A feature of the book is that each article will be set in a different typeface. Casey offered to host her talk from the book at FBAC.

Casey Smith also presented a paper at the most recent APHA National Conference on the letterpress chappel movement in America, which was anchored on the West Coast in Menlo Park, CA, and on the East Coast by the Westchester Chappel, Westchester, NY. The chappel movement morphed into APA (Amalgamated Printers of America) and APHA (American Printing History Association) according to Casey’s research.

Melanie Leung showed a copy of a charming keepsake, complete with ligatures and long esses, printed on newsprint at the Folger Frost Fair on the Folger’s “new” common press.

Ray Nichols presented a brief Keynote slideshow of recent projects including Lead Graffiti’s New Year’s card; a set of 4 posters printed on variable ink pulls by James Quigley, Lauren Emeritz, Jill Cypher and Ray Nichols; pocket-sized Bernie Books; and EDGE printed on a Bureau of Land Management map of the far Northwest Coast of the US. He also reminded the group of Greg Robison’s “Impartial Observer” project and urged everyone to subscribe and submit 100-word articles for publication.

Jon asked for help in setting up an iron handpress (from Lockwood’s estate) for a grateful recipient with an historic shop. Casey and others recommended Seth Gottlieb as an experienced, knowledgeable hand.

Carol Maurer said she had completed all of the walks for her book on Edgar Allan Poe and was ready to start working on the writing and printing. She also recommended “The Library Book” by Susan Orlean, which documents using freezers to save books from fire and water damage at the LA Library, as a resource .

Lauren Emeritz showed almost-finished copies of her new FIRE book which features a Jacob’s ladder binding that moves. She used a Vandercook cylinder press to print on wood veneer sheets, which are flexible like paper, before adhering the sheets to thin plywood boards. Her book will premiere at the CODEX book fair in California this February.

Casey Smith showed his recent letterpress broadside of “The Epstein Vortex”, which he printed in innumerable colors using a circular chase he acquired from Rich Kegler. Casey also outed Scip’s imminent octogenarian birthday this Friday. Hip Hip Hooray for he’s a jolly good fellow!

To wrap up, Casey also reported his ongoing efforts to lock in an APHA event at the Library of Congress in late February or early March.

Here are highlights from our
December 9, 2025
“What I’m UP To” discussion

Ian Edelson expressed his excitement about extending his uncommon collection of Inland Type Foundry’s Drew typeface to include 12-, 14-, 18-, 24, & 30- point sizes, much of it found at the 2025 Printers Fair in Lancaster, PA, and purchased from Lead Graffiti. If you have any different sizes he may want to talk. He showed his progress printing a Drew sample for APA. Ray Nichols presented two ideas for monthly APHA Zoom meetings: Vladimir Zimikov (Boston, MA): focusing on his newest fabulous book, which makes extensive use of linocuts and typography, and revisiting the extensive typography-related book & ephemera collection of Mark Batty (New Castle, DE). Ray Nichols & Jill Cypher reported on a collaborative book project on “Trees” they are working on with Upper Chesapeake Book Arts. Casey Smith showed some of his recently printed HN Werkman-style work, utilizing only broken wood type. Casey Smith announced his involvement in a meeting to be held at the Library of Congress related to the career of William Petersen. Scip Barnhart shared several examples of stone lithography pieces from his workshops at the Frederick Book Arts Center and spoke about how stone lithography took off in Iran in 1829, as it was the best way to print Iran’s complicated typography. Casey announced the start of LithoChurch at FBAC, to be held regularly on Sundays. Casey Smith introduced Steve Varvaro of the West Chester Chappel, whom he met while researching Ben Lieberman and the Chappel’s origins. Casey presented that research at the national APHA conference in San Francisco this year. Amelia Hugill-Fontanel provided a history of the Lieberman-Kelmscott Chaucer Albion at the Cary Library, along with a substantial collection of Lieberman’s papers. She also mentioned that the Cary had galley blocks of Trajan Capitals carved by Federick Goudy.

Steve Varvaro presented a phenomenal website documenting 60 years of calendar pages by members of the West Chester Chappel that was searchable by month, year, press, and printer. There was also a brief discussion of aesthetic disagreements between members regarding the sometimes contradictionary goals of traditional design versus creative design of the calendar part of the pages. Steve also mentioned Partners in Print in Seattle, which has a fleet of provisional presses and holds a monthly Zoom meeting called “Shop Talk,” which sounds similar to what we are doing with wiUPt. Ray showed a piece of recent work that used AI to locate all English 7-letter words with the middle letters of “UNM” for a collective project promoting the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration. James Quigley polled everyone present for input for research related to the history of letterpress accouterments, such as registration pins, metal galleys, quoins, and probably a gazillion other possibilities. Ian noted a strong appetite for YouTube educational content. Casey pointed out that all special collections see value of creating teaching units for letterpress. Carol Maurer spoke about her work at the 500-square-foot free library in Cochranville, PA, and about her contibution, which she embroidered, to the cooperative UCBA Trees book. Ray & Jill also showed their pages for the same book. The book’s cover also uses Ray‘s “ShahnTorn” typography he designed and has made into wood type. There was some discussion about the various contributions of the people present to promoting political issues.

Join us Wednesday, January 7, 2026.

Lead Graffiti hosted a broadside printing using ink pulls as the basis. Chapter President Lauren Emeritz and Programming Committee member James Quigley joined Jill Cypher and Ray Nichols.

Join us at the event above and talk about the Wayzgoose.

APHA-newsletter-69-1986-jan

We are sold out of the 2026 calendars
For past events in the Chesapeake Chapter 2025, click here.
To see work from Chapter letterpress printers, click here
To see a few APHA Chesapeake calendars / ’24, ’23, ’22.

Val Lucas talk to 2025
American Typecasting Fellowship Conference

Printing Stewards board member @Val Lucas gave a presentation to the 2025 American Typecasting Fellowship Conference. I think you should be able to see the talk by clicking here.

An article about Raven Press at the University of Delaware was started by Ray Nichols, Jill Cypher, and Bill Deering.

Don Starr teaches typography at the George Mason Korea campus in SOUTH KOREA. He says he is headed to a museum this weekend and passed along this URL OMG ARCHITECURE, for sure. 

Lead Graffiti had an exhibition with 200 letterpress & book projects at the Frederick Book Arts Center, Frederick, Maryland from February 28 through May 3, 2025

Lead Graffiti has a major two-month-long solo exhibition with 200 pieces of our letterpress work at the Frederick Book Arts Center in Frederick, MD, running from Saturday, March 1, through Saturday, May 3, which is Print Day. We will be at the FBAC for two days during the exhibition. First, there will be a talk on Saturday, April 5 (2 – 4 pm), surrounded by the exhibition, about our endeavors, our design and printing process, and hopefully, answers to many questions about the work from those in attendance.

They also did a talk about their work and led their H.N. Werkman workshops, which were fabulous fun.

You can link to both websites at Frederick Book Arts Center and Lead Graffiti.

UMD Libraries Announce Gift
of 150-Year-Old Printing Presses

It is always fun to find a U.S. Stamp (or foreign, for that matter) with a history of printing focus. Recently discovered this 1939 3¢ celebrating the 300th anniversary of printing in colonial America. The stamp, issued on September 25, 1939, pictures the Stephen Daye Press, the first printing press used in colonial America. The press was set up at Harvard College and printed the Freeman’s Oath in 1639. 

The press shown on the stamp is similar to the common press the Chesapeake Chapter recently donated to the Library of Congress. Now, we need to take this nice block-of-4 and include it in a broadside that we can display in the room.

Casey Smith,
our Chapter Vice President,
has been named
Executive Director of the
Frederick Book Arts Center
in Frederick, Maryland.

Lead Graffiti Solo Exhibition
Newark Arts Alliance
Newark, DE
December 31, 2024 – January 17, 2025
Public reception
Friday, January 10, 6 – 8 pm

Greetings, my thoughtful, creative, politically responsible friends!

Welcome to a riot of obsolescence!

The Impartial Observer is an artistic and literary venture — a quarterly journal — that flies in the face of just about all contemporary trends. Chesapeake Chapter member Greg Robison is the mastermind behind it all. You can get to the website by clicking here.

This simple website is the most technologically advanced element of this whole initiative. I use email, too, of course — I’m not a Luddite — and am always happy to speak to you on the electric telephone. But the Impartial Observer itself is otherwise an entirely hand-crafted, artisanal publication. It’s a physical object you can hold, printed slowly and patiently in limited editions from cast metal type using new equipment and tools 150 years ago. As an artist, I consider it a work of art on paper. You know: “paper,” a traditional, noble material made of natural fibers, not “pay per” as in “pay-per-view.” With reasonable care, such a work on paper will last for centuries without requiring (as everything digital in the cloud does) a never-ending consumption of hydrocarbons. Just as to produce it required the destruction of hardly any hydrocarbons either. Oh, and it’s distributed strictly by hand or through the post. You can’t see it online.

The Impartial Observer is a venture that bucks other contemporary trends, too. I’m not seeking an enormous number of subscribers; I’m producing it only for friends like you. (If I don’t know you, introduce yourself. You’ll probably fit in nicely.) I accept no advertising. The Impartial Observer is not the mouthpiece for any movement or organization’s newsletter.

Although this work flows from diverse streams of interest and activity in my life — as a visual artist, writer, Catholic, meditator, educator, and letterpress printer since childhood — I don’t intend it to be all about me. I’m inviting you, my friends, to help me write it and thereby form a loose community of reflection, creativity, and action. Specifically, I welcome from subscribers what I call “Paragraphs:” thoughtfully written texts of exactly 100 words (remember, the paper is composed by hand!), anchored in the first-person singular for authenticity, on one (or a combination) of the thematic interests we share, to wit:

• cultivation of a rich inner life through reflection, meditation, prayer, or similar practices;

• living creatively, intentionally, and compassionately this one precious life we share, and doing so with curiosity and good humor; and

• engaging in or supporting responsible social action to promote a more just, peaceful, and inclusive world.

The Chesapeake Chapter of the American Printing History Association is now accepting applications for its Michael Denker Fellowships. 

About the Fellowship

Established in the memory of longtime chapter contributor, wood type collector, letterpress printer, and friend Michael Denker, a year-long fellowship, as a one-time award, provides free membership in the national association and the Chesapeake Chapter, invitations to Chapter events such as studio tours, behind-the-scenes museum visits, workshops, and more, as well as discounted registration for the annual national APHA conference and a subscription to the semiannual journal “Printing History.” The fellowship also provides an opportunity to present a body of work or research at the annual Chapter symposium at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

About APHA

The American Printing History Association promotes the study of the history of printing and related arts and crafts, including calligraphy, typefounding, typography, papermaking, bookbinding, illustration, and publishing. The Chesapeake Chapter comprises printers, artists, curators, historians, and collectors in the DC-Baltimore-Virginia-Delaware area. For more information about APHA, visit the national website at printinghistory.org.

To Apply

Send a short statement expressing your interest in the history and practice of printing and related arts and what you hope to gain from joining the Chapter’s diverse community. The deadline to apply is November 15th. Send your statement (or any questions) to the Chapter Secretary (ChesapeakeAPHA@gmail.com) with the subject “Denker Fellowship Application.” 

Applications will be notified in December.

Chesapeake Chapter Notes

Chesapeake Chapter Notes is emailed monthly to members and friends of the Chesapeake Chapter of the American Printing History Association. I want you to know that contributions are welcome and can be sent to the Chapter Secretary (ChesapeakeAPHA@gmail.com).