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ISO: Inks Used for Early C. 20 Postcards

From the Contact page:

Hello APHA! I’m doing research on picture postcards from the early decades of the twentieth century, and I’m interested in determining when commercial printers in North America began to adopt petroleum-based or -derived inks. [Read more]

APHA Awards 2024 – Call for Nominations

The American Printing History Association (APHA) Board of Trustees and the Awards Committee invite nominations for the 2024 APHA Individual Laureate and Institutional Awards! Submit your nomination(s) at our new form now until September 13, 2023.   [Read more]

Chesapeake Chapter 2024 collaborative calendar

Ray Nichols

Each year since 2012 the printing faction of the Chesapeake Chapter has produced a calendar using a variety of printing techniques, mostly centered around letterpress. These efforts often use the opportunity to experiment with new techniques & new layouts of both printing & typography. The calendars are sold with the funds supporting up to 10 student memberships for Denker Fellows each year, as well as support for monthly speakers, trips & other projects. [Read more]

Hebrew Typecasting Pilot Program at Bixler Letterfoundry

A significant exploration of Hebrew and Yiddish type casting will take place this summer at the Bixler Letterfoundry in Skaneateles, New York. The intensive workshop will feature seminar components and training in the basics of Monotype type casting and letterpress printing. This four-day intensive hands-on workshop will feature an in-depth experience on all aspects of Hebrew letterpress printing but will focus on the Hebrew matrices in the collection of Michael and Winfred Bixler. [Read more]

ISO: Presses ca. 1828–1840 New York

From the Contact form:

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]

Typefounding in 19th Century Philadelphia Reexamined

Paul Shaw

Specimen of Printing Types and Ornaments, Robb & Ecklin, 1836, p.84 (RIT)

While researching Robb & Ecklin, typefounders in Philadelphia from 1836 to 1844, I discovered information that sheds new light on the history of typefounding in that city and challenges some commonly-held facts. The inquiry that led me to this new information was whether typefounder Edwin Starr (or one of his brothers) intersected with Jedidiah Howe, whose foundry Robb & Ecklin took over, or with Samuel Ecklin or Alexander Robb themselves. [Read more]

ISO: 1920s Mimeography Production

From the Contact form:

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

Shop Back Issues of Printing History

APHA is pleased to announce that you can now purchase back issues of Printing History directly from our website. Free shipping within the U.S. You don’t even have to be a member, but please consider joining. Shop now!

Call for Papers: “The Printed Weird”

48th Annual APHA National Conference
“The Printed Weird: Book History from the Margins”
Austin, Texas, October 12–14, 2023

Deadline extended to June 1. 

[Read more]

Highlights of the 2023 Annual Meeting

Clockwise from top left: APHA Award Individual Laurates Irene Tichenor and Fritz Klinke, Fellowship winner, Val Lucas, APHA Award Institutional Award winners Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione and Mark Barbour of The International Printing Museum.

The American Printing History Association Annual Meeting took place Saturday, January 28, via Zoom with 58 members in attendance. The meeting began with greetings and announcements by the president, followed by the reports of officers, elections of trustees, and the announcements of the Mark Samuels Lasner Fellowship winner and the APHA Awards recipients. [Read more]