APHA member Ron Gordon, a graphic designer, teacher, and letterpress printer for more than 40 years in New York City, has been called “a keeper of the great tradition of American book design.” In college, Gordon studied with the artist and printer Leonard Baskin and later worked at Joseph Blumenthal’s Spiral Press. He collaborated with many artists during his long career—Edward Gorey, Maurice Sendak, Baskin, and others.
His customers included most of the most prominent cultural institutions in NYC: The Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Collection, the Morgan Library, and the Grolier Club, among many others. In addition to designing and printing limited edition books at his Oliphant Press, Gordon produced a vast body of ephemera for his prestigious customers as well as for his own press and private use. He has now compiled a number of packets of this ephemeral printing to give away to teachers of letterpress printing and graphic design or to collectors and librarians who are interested in this material. Please email oliphantpress@gmail.com for further information or to express interest in receiving one of these packets.
Dear Member of the American Printing History Association,
You are cordially invited to the Annual Meeting at 2 pm (EST) on Saturday, January 29, 2022, to celebrate excellence in printing history and conduct the Association’s business. Annual meeting information will be e-mailed to members and posted on this site. [Read more]
The American Printing History Association (APHA) is accepting applications for the 2022 Mark Samuels Lasner Fellowship in Printing History. An award of up to $2,000 is available for research in any area of the history of printing, including all the arts and technologies relevant to printing, the book arts, and letter forms. [Read more]
Edited by Kyle Schlesinger Interviews with Rosmarie Waldrop, Keith Waldrop, Tom Raworth, Lyn Hejinian, Alan Loney, Mary Laird, Jonathan Greene, Alastair Johnston, Johanna Drucker, Phil Gallo, Steven Clay, Charles Alexander, Annabel Lee, Inge Bruggeman, Matvei Yankelevich, Anna Moschovakis, Aaron Cohick, and Scott Pierce Ugly Duckling Presse co-published with Cuneiform Press. Trade Paperback Nonfiction. $30 5.75″ × 8.75″. 384 pp. ISBN 978-1-937027-74-2. Order
I have never marked a book up. No marginalia for me. My books tend to stay pristine. But almost immediately there were moments in each of the 16 interviews with book makers that spoke to my head, my heart, my experiences, to a passion for books, and to poetry. I guess that’s why editor Kyle Schlesinger titled this collection A Poetics of the Press. I filled my fountain pen with violet ink and began marking up passages. [Read more]
Register now for a Nubia Navarro’s workshop through Center for Book Arts New York, October 21, 2021, from 6 to 9 p.m. Her expert skills guide you to accentuate your hand-lettering with digital tools. Beginners welcome! [Read more]
Detail of a poster designed and printed by Juan Carlos Romero, Imprenta Enlace. (Belinda Ugalde Mellado)
The American Printing History Associationʼs 46th annual fall conference will be hosted online through the Grolier Club of New York, from October 22–23, 2021. “Impresos: Printing Across Latin American and Caribbean Cultures” will explore common themes promoted by our organizations, with a focus on the study of printing history and practices of peoples and cultures related to Latin America and the Caribbean. The conference will be available with bilingual captioning in English and Spanish. [Read more]
I am wondering if there exists a database of the metallurgical compositions of worldwide printing plates from the 15th century to the 20th? Basically, if anyone has pooled together metallurgical data from known plates from museum collections. [Read more]
The American Printing History Association is pleased to announce its own YouTube channel featuring videos that support its mission and programs. Take a look. We’re just getting started.
The American Printing History Association welcomes proposals for Impresos: Printing Across Latin American and Caribbean Cultures An APHA virtual conference, hosted by the Grolier Club, New York, NY. Online (EDT) October 22–23, 2021.
The 2021 APHA Call for Proposals is offered in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Call for Proposals are due by May 1, 2021 PDF.
