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Annual Conference

Since 1976, the American Printing History Association has organized an annual conference on a selected theme in printing history. In the early years, the annual conference was invariably held in New York City, but since the late 1980s, the organization has sought venues further afield. Conferences typically consist of a day or two of formal papers, presentations, and panels, as well as tours of libraries, galleries, and other local points of interest to historians of printing. There are also plenty of opportunities for socializing and fellowship.

Conference presentations are summarized on the APHA website. Prior to 2013, they were summarized in the Newsletter and many have been published in APHA’s semi-annual journal, Printing History.

The following is a complete list of APHA conferences from 1976 to present.

YearThemeHost/VenueState, City
2023The Printed Weird: Book History from the Margins Harry Ransom Center, University of TexasTX, Austin
2022Making Artistic Noise: Printing and Social Activism from the 1960s to the Present Rare Books LACA, Los Angeles
2021Impresos: Printing Across Latin American and Caribbean Cultures Grolier ClubVirtual
2020Awayzgoose Hamilton Wood Type & Printing MuseumVirtual
2019One Press, Many Hands: Diversity in the History of American PrintingUniversity of Maryland, College ParkMD, College Park
2018Matrices: The Social Life of Paper, Print, and Art
University of Iowa Center for the BookIA, Iowa City
2017Good, Fast, Cheap: Printed Words and Images in America before 1900
American Antiquarian SocietyMA, Worcester
2016The Black Art & Printers’ DevilsHuntington Library
CA, San Marino
2015The Hand Press & BeyondRochester Institute of TechnologyNY, Rochester
2014Paper on the PressMills CollegeCA, Oakland
2013Seeing Color/Printing ColorGrolier ClubNY, New York
2012At the Crossroads: Living Letterform TraditionsColumbia CollegeIL, Chicago
2011Printing at the EdgeUniversity of California, San DiegoCA, San Diego
2010Learning to Print, Teaching to PrintCorcoran College of Art + DesignDC, Washington
2009The Book BeautifulRedwood Library, Newport Art Museum, and Newport Public LibraryRI, Newport
2008Saving the History of PrintingGrolier Club and Columbia UniversityNY, New York
2007Transformations: The Persistence of Aldus ManutiusUniversity of California, Los Angeles Libraries and Getty Research InstituteCA, Los Angeles
2006The Atlantic World of Print in the Age of FranklinUniversity of Pennsylvania and Library Company of PhiladelphiaPA, Philadelphia
2005[r]Evolution in Print: New Work in Printing History & PracticeMills CollegeCA, Oakland
2004Picture This: The Art and Technique of IllustrationUniversity of DelawareDE, Newark
2003New Work in Printing HistoryGrolier ClubNY, New York
2002A New England WayzgooseMuseum of Printing HistoryMA, North Andover
2001Transatlantic Type: Anglo-American Printing in the Nineteenth CenturyWashington UniversityMO, St. Louis
2000On the Digital BrinkRochester Institute of TechnologyNY, Rochester
1999Fine Book Design in the Twentieth CenturyGrolier ClubNY, New York
1998Chicago Printing HistoryNewberry LibraryIL, Chicago
1997Twentieth-Century Book DesignHarry Ransom Center, University of TexasTX, Austin
1996Twentieth-Century Traditions of Fine Printing in CaliforniaHuntington LibraryCA, San Marino
1995Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Printing: The Book in Jefferson's Virginia and the Early RepublicUniversity of VirginiaVA, Charlottesville
1994APHA at Twenty: Celebrating the Past, Looking to the FuturePierpont Morgan LibraryNY, New York
1993The Humanist PrinterBrown UniversityRI, Providence
1992Printing and Publishing History at Princeton: Materials and MethodologiesPrinceton UniversityNJ, Princeton
1991A Washington WayzgooseLibrary of CongressDC, Washington
1990The Printing of American Newspapers from 1690 Into the FutureColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1989Colonial New England PrintingHarvard UniversityMA, Cambridge
1988The Book Arts in Philadelphia, 1785-1840Library Company of PhiladelphiaPA, Philadelphia
1987Government Printing in the Western Hemisphere: Technology, Design, PoliticsColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1986The Printing SurfaceColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1985Printing Without TypeColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1984Eighteenth-Century Anglo-American Printing and PublishingColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1983Twentieth-Century American Typography and TypographersColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1982Nineteenth-Century America: Book Trade Technology and Social HistoryColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1981The Mark of the Printer: Fine Commercial Printing in the Machine AgeColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1980The Permanence of EphemeraColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1979The Renaissance BookColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1978The Decorated Book/The Crystal Goblet: A ReconsiderationColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1977Printing Revolutions: The First Two and What They Can Teach the ThirdColumbia UniversityNY, New York
1976Typographic America: A Bicentennial PerspectiveColumbia UniversityNY, New York