letterpressbkart: Milestones Decreasing!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Milestones Decreasing!

I so appreciate the conversations that have happened around milestones in the book arts. You will recall that this came up originally when Monica Moses, editor-in-chief of American Craft magazine, asked me to supply up to 20 book art milestones that would be integrated into a larger craft timeline, to celebrate the magazine's 70th anniversary in its June/July issue. I knew that this would prove to be an impossible task, but I felt better asking several of the field's most knowledgeable practitioners to weigh in with their suggestions.

So, here's the latest. I returned from a trip yesterday to find another email from Moses, asking me to resubmit the milestones, but to reduce their numbers to 10, and even to 5. What torture! It sounds like the magazine's graphic designer is struggling to produce something that will be readable. I am sympathetic to the challenge, and I came up with something, but now am quite nostalgic for the struggle to come up with 20.

So, I've decided to list my 20 entries here, so that they will be listed somewhere! Recognizing that every person who reads this will have a different opinion, here is what I came up with after receiving all of the suggestions that I listed in my previous entry.

20 BOOK ART CRAFT MILESTONES

1940

1949. Lloyd Reynolds begins to teach calligraphy at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Over 35 years his efforts spark a revival in the lettering arts, whose influence extends from italic handwriting taught in elementary schools to typographers designing digital fonts used in Macintosh computers.

1960

1969. Visual Studies Workshop founded. The VSW Press is the first of several artist-run offset presses that powers the rise of the multiple bookwork.

1970

1971. Kathryn and Howard Clark establish Twinrocker, Inc. Papermill. Six years later Claire Van Vliet develops paper pulp painting there as a visiting artist, seen first in her book, Aura.

1973. Printer and papermaker Walter Hamady publishes his first Interminable Gabberjabbs, a series of books whose content, format and materials tweak book conventions while showcasing exceptional craft.

1974. Richard Minsky founds the Center for Book Arts, in New York City.

1974. Keith Smith publishes Structure of the Visual Book, the first of his books that picture, instruct and interpret non-traditional bookmaking.

1975. Fine Print journal published until 1990, the first journal (of several) to explore craft issues in the book arts.

1976. Dieu Donné Papermill is started up in New York City for the preservation of hand papermaking in contemporary art.

1979. Book conservator Hedi Kyle creates April Diary, inventing the simple yet elegant flag book structure used by countless book artists.

1980

1982. Columbia University’s School of Library Science sponsors the Fine Printing Conference with exhibition and book fair. Thirty-two printers attend, and Columbia later publishes the proceedings.

1983. Paper and Book Intensive founded, a yearly “working sabbatical” for established and emerging artists and others in the book arts.

1986-1988. The National Collegiate Book Arts Exhibition, organized by Richard Zauft and the University of South Dakota, travels to nine sites across the U.S. to highlight the growing options for study at the college level.

1983. Papermaker and scholar Timothy Barrett publishes Japanese Papermaking: Traditions, Tools, and Techniques, based on his travels and research in Japan, and later leads efforts to produce conservation-sound papers while teaching at the University of Iowa.

1985. The University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa launches its M.F.A. in the Book Arts Program through the School of Library and Information Studies, which remains the U.S. program most closely identified with a high level of craft.

1986. Hand Papermaking journal founded.

1987. Printer Harry Duncan’s writings published in Doors of Perception: Essays in Book Typography, giving voice to a new generation of letterpress printers.

1990

1994. Peter Verheyen starts the Book_Arts-L listserv, and in that moment the book arts community goes global.

1998. Gerald Lange's Digital Printing on the Cylinder Hand Press explores the expressive possibilities of polymer plate-making conjoined with desktop publishing and improved font software for letterpress printers.

2000

2007. CODEX Foundation founded to preserve and promote the art and craft of the book through a biennial symposium and a book fair strong in international participation.

2008. College Book Art Association established to support and promote academic book arts education with a biennial conference and (as of 2011) an online journal.

6 comments:

KyleFebruary 24, 2011 at 8:49 PM
Hi Betty,

I admire the fact that so many of your 'landmarks' have something to do with education, that is, furthering the conversation and tradition, rather than 'benchmarks' or some sort of tidy account of the accomplishments of that past. Of course the latter is of great significance, so long as it is dynamic, not static, generative.

Best,

Kyle
ReplyDelete
Replies
Betty BrightFebruary 25, 2011 at 7:24 AM
Thank you, Kyle. I was trying for balance in all things, which was of course impossible with such an array to choose from. I hadn't actually noticed the education base to several of them, although we agree in that I was also thinking of future growth, which is what education is feeding. But yes, ultimately any development is a bit mysterious. You can see where a work or an artist or organization has an impact, but sometimes not in the way they expected. Any development or emerging thread in history is such an organic process. That's just one fascinating aspect of history.

And...Gerald Lange's comment the other day about specific books as an influence really struck me about how my judgement of influential developments has no doubt been affected by growing up in Oregon, where the arts community was small, primarily craft-based, and definitely distant from Art, and then living in the Midwest, where, at least until MCBA and the Internet were established, the local book art scene was more dependent on publications or local instructors to move the field along. So when I worked at MCBA I always pushed for catalogues to accompany exhibitions, even if they were modest ones, because I knew that a show could then enjoy a sustained impact, and otherwise faced disappearance. Luckily our options have greatly multiplied today, so as long as the computers are plugged in and the power stays on we have exceptional resources for documenting work and nurturing the field...
ReplyDelete
Replies
Betty BrightJune 1, 2011 at 8:05 PM
Just a note that American Craft has moved back the date of publication for their craft timeline issue to August. Soon enough!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJune 19, 2011 at 9:03 PM
Hi Betty,
I'm a graduate student (and amateur letterpress printer) with a research interest in education, letterpress, and Canada. I'm excited to find your blog. Is there an email I can reach you at?

- Sam
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Welcome

Welcome to letterpressbkart, a blog I launched to gather and document the state of letterpress printing since 1980. This blog supplements my research underway since October 2008, which considers the growing interest in letterpress printing, not just within the book art world, but also as it participates in the larger contexts of art and literature, politics and publishing, and other influences that affect how artists make art.

To do that, I hope to look at a lot of books and prints in the coming years, and hear from printers and others who share a fascination with the letterpress medium and the book as an artistic vehicle. I'll report on conferences, talk about books I'm reading and artists I meet, and I invite my readers to comment on how you see letterpress evolving. Your voices are the reason why I have launched this blog. Finally, I wish to thank the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design in Hendersonville, North Carolina, for their generous grant support.

Time & How We Tell It

I’m a fan of timelines and family trees. Each is an attempt to capture time, to suggest a context. A timeline is linear, almost old-fashioned in its sequential flat-footedness (this happened, then this, then this). A family tree is referential, inclusive, and weighted, with second cousins and blended families refreshing the chronological pool of possibilities.

I’d like to use this blog to assemble both kinds of time constructions specific to letterpress in the U.S. Running vertically down the right side of this blog you'll find a timeline-in-progress. In fact, it's been in progress for quite some time. I maintained a idiosyncratic, broad-based timeline while working at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. When I left MCBA in 1993, I began work toward my Ph.D. in Art History at the University of Minnesota, and limited the scope of my research to 1960-1980. For that reason and others, I dropped any pretense of tracking events as they unfolded post-1980.

All this is meant to explain why I need the help of my fellow blogites (blogovistas? blogitonians?) to fill in the busy years of 1970 to today (even though my focus begins in 1980, it’s helpful for stage-setting to start a decade earlier). And although my research focuses on U.S. artists for the most part, I welcome citations from outside the U.S. that readers feel may have influenced work in this country. Let’s see what emerges. So, please. Don’t be shy. Each of you can offer a piece to fit into this emerging puzzle.

Here are examples of the kinds of information for the timeline:

•Major U.S. conferences and book fairs important to letterpress

•Important exhibitions (large groundbreaking group shows, one-person shows, and retrospectives)

•The establishment or expansion of important collections (or dealers) for letterpress, including the purchase of artist archives

•Improvements in equipment or software that affected work in letterpress...and other equipment-related developments (what equipment is hard to find, and how did your work change as a result?)

•Dates of review publications, including any other key publications that letterpress artists read and talk about

•The passing of artists, writers and others important to letterpress (such as Harry Duncan’s death in 1997)

•Teaching facilities that began or were realigned or expanded from 1980 onward, including programs in higher education as well as non-profit community organizations

•Anything else that has happened in the world that had a profound affect on letterpress

All I ask in addition is that you provide me with a thread that will lead me to a source for verification, if that is necessary. I’ll be adding citations myself, and I’d appreciate hearing if I mis-identify something.

As for the last category, “anything else that has happened,” the guideline will be whether the poster can demonstrate a widespread influence over letterpress. For example, when I was thinking about letterpress before giving a presentation in 2009 at the College Book Art Association’s conference in Iowa City, I decided that 9/11 had a tremendous influence over art making, and perhaps over a general and growing return to books and bookmaking. This is so obvious to the point of a “duh” moment, but at the time it struck me with the force of revelation. So please do think big!

LETTERPRESS TIMELINE, 1970 to the Present (in process)

1970

•University of California-Berkeley establishes South Hall Press, a bibliographic press, by Roger Levenson.

1971

•University of Alabama in University, AL establishes a Typographic Laboratory by Raymond F. McLain. This later absorbed into the Library School (see 1975).

•Calhoun College establishes the Calhoun College Press.

•Konglomerati Press issues its first broadsides in St. Petersburg, Florida, launched by Richard Mathews as part of an artists' cooperative, in time evolving into a non-profit literary and book arts center. [see also 1986]

•Kathryn and Howard Clark establish Twinrocker, Inc. Papermill. Six years later Claire Van Vliet develops paper pulp painting there as a visiting artist, seen first in her book, Aura.

1972

•Harry Duncan moves from University of Iowa-Iowa City to University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he establishes the Fine Arts Press, and Abattoir Editions.

•California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland establishes CCAC Press, a laboratory press, by Betsy Davids and Charles Gill. Davids is instructor. See also 1979.

•Columbia University establishes the Book Arts Press by Terry Belanger.

•Leonard Seastone founds the Tideline Press.

1973

•Transylvania University-Lexington, KT establishes The Absolute Zero Press by J. Hill Hamon.

•University of Wisconsin-Madison establishes The Silver Buckle Press by Walter Hamady in the H.C. White Library, from equipment collected by Robert Shaftoe. Barbara Tetenbaum, Katherine Kuehn, Walter Tisdale, John Bennett, Jim Dast, and Elizabeth Benforado Coberly have also taught. Tracy Honn teaches at present.

•Five Trees Press begins, according to Fine Print.

•Printer and papermaker Walter Hamady publishes his first Interminable Gabberjabbs, a series of books whose content, format and materials tweak book conventions while showcasing exceptional craft.

1974

•Richard Minsky founds the Center for Book Arts in NYC on Bleecker Street (until it moves in 1984).

•California State University-Northridge establishes Santa Susana Press, a publishing press, by Norman E. Tanis. (see also 1977)

•University of California-Santa Cruz establishes the Cowell Press by Jack Stauffacher. George R. Kane has also taught.

•Peter Koch founds Black Stone Press, the first letterpress / literary book arts press in Montana (moves to San Francisco in 1978).

•Keith Smith publishes Structure of the Visual Book, the first of his books that picture, instruct and interpret non-traditional bookmaking.

1975

•Marvin and Ruth Sackner begin collecting books (see 1979).

•University of Alabama in University, AL establishes Gorgas Oak Press, a laboratory and publishing press, by Raymond F. McLain, James D. Ramer, and Glenn House. Later instructors include Gabriel Rummonds; Steve Miller teaches at present.

•California State University-Los Angeles establishes Columbian 415 Chappel, a laboratory and publishing press, by Richard J. Hoffman and Kenneth Hird.

•Eucalyptus Press at Mills College is revived by Linda Claassen (founded 1930). Kathy Walkup and Julie Chen teach today.

•University of South Dakota-Vermillion establishes The Press by John L. Risseeuw. Richard Zauft has also taught.

•Gerry Lange begins the Bieler Press in Poynette, Wisconsin, after studying with Walter Hamady.

•The Janus Press 1955-75, catalogue raisonné of Claire Van Vliet’s work with essay by Ruth Fine Lehrer.

•Fine Print begins publication (until 1990).

1976

•Northern Illinois University-DeKalb establishes NIU Common Press by Anthony S. Bliss.

•Evergreen State College-Olympia establishes Poet's Press & Penny Press. Young Harvill, Ann Lasko and Rusty North have taught.

•Red Ozier Press, 1976-1987, founded by Steve Miller and Ken Botnick.

•Dieu Donné Papermill is started in New York City for the preservation of hand papermaking in contemporary art.

1977

• California State University-Northridge establishes Santa Susana Printing Chappel and Bibliographic Society, by Jane Matthews and Norman Tanis.

•University of California-Davis establishes the Davis Design Department Press. Frances Butler taught.

•Colorado College in Colorado Springs establishes The Press at Colorado College by James Trissel (first book in 1978). Colin Frazer teaches at present.

•Carthage College in Kenosha, WI establishes the Southport Press by Travis and Mabel Du Priest.

•Northwestern University in Evanston, IL establishes The Cuneo Printing and Fine Binding Studio.

1978

•The Ohio State University establishes The Logan Elm Press by Kenneth Marantz. Robert Tauber has also taught.

•Whitman College-Walla Walla, WA establishes The Whitman College Press. S. Eugene Thompson has taught.

1979

•The Creative Arts Workshop, set up by Polly Lada-Mocarsky with others, in New Haven, CT.

•Marvin and Ruth Sackner establish the Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry.

•Trumbull College establishes the Trumbull College Press.

•California College of Arts and Crafts begins offering a Book Arts Program (see also 1972).

•Furman University-Greenville, SC establishes Furman University Book Arts Press. Thomas E. Flowers has taught.

•Harvard University establishes the Bow and Arrow Press by Eleanor Garvey.

•Gaylord Schanilec founds Midnight Paper Sales Press in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

•Book conservator Hedi Kyle creates April Diary, inventing the simple yet elegant flag book structure used by countless book artists.

1980

•Pacific Center for Book Arts founded?

•Arizona State University establishes The Press by John Risseeuw.

•Scripps College Press re-established by Christine Bertelson. (see also 1941) Kitty Maryatt teaches at present.

•University of Utah-Salt Lake City establishes The Press.

•In Bookways no. 10, Amos Paul Kennedy says he visited Williamsburg’s print shop.

1981

•The National Endowment for the Arts opens a funding category for "artists' books".

•First Annual Book Arts Workshop at Fairleigh Dickinson University Library in Madison, NJ.

•UCLA Extension announces a new educational program in book arts, with special events. (?)

•April 8 - 11: "Art of the Printed Book," international conference on fine printing, held at The University of Nebraska at Omaha, coordinated by Mel Bohn (info. provided by Risseeuw).

•October 14 - 16: The Library Company in Philadelphia celebrates its 250th anniversary with a national symposium.

1982

•The Fine Printing Conference, held at Columbia University. They invited every fine printer who'd published at least one book: total of 61.

•75th anniversary of the Morgan Library.

•David Farrell publishes a chapbook, Collegiate Book Arts Presses, a survey of American collegiate and university programs, working from a response of 53 presses.

•June 7 - 12: Fairleigh Dickinson University's Second Annual Book Arts Workshop.

•The Janus Press 1975-80, second catalogue raisonné with essay by Ruth E. Fine, published by University of Vermont-Burlington.

1983

•Mills College begins offering a Master of Arts degree in Book Arts.

•The American Antiquarian Society establishes the Program in the History of the Book in American Culture.

•June: MCBA's founding board of directors established.

•Artists Book Works founded, in Chicago.

•May 6 - July 3: Breaking the Bindings: American Book Art Now, of 135 books, at University of Wisconsin-Madison, with illustrated catalogue.

•June 20 - 24: Third Annual Book Arts Workshop at Farleigh Dickinson University Library in NJ.

•July 3 - 16: Oxbow Paper and Book Intensive founded in Saugatuck, MI, a yearly "working sabbatical" for established and emerging artists and others in the book arts.

•Papermaker and scholar Timothy Barrett publishes Japanese Papermaking: Traditions, Tools and Techniques, based on his travels and research in Japan, and later leads efforts to produce conservation-sound papers while teaching at the University of Iowa.

1984

•New York's Center for Book Arts moves from Bleecker Street to expanded facilities at 626 Broadway (or 1985?).

•July 1 - 21: Oxbow Paper and Book Intensive, Saugatuck, MI.

•September 6 - November 30: Major exhibition: "Center for Book Arts: The First Decade" at The New York Public Library.

•Two Decades of Hamady and the Perishable Press Limited. Exhibition and annotated checklist; exhibition at University of Missouri-St. Louis.

•October 31- November 3: The first Collegiate Press Conference sponsored by the Institute for the Book Arts, Graduate School of Library Science, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. (info. provided by Risseeuw). Reviewed in Fine Print, July 1985 by Betsy Davids.

•November 1 - 3: "Needs and Opportunities for Research in the History of the Book in American Culture," an invitational conference at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA.

•The Grolier Club celebrates its centenary.

•Contemporary Fine Printing: Change and Tradition. Exhibition and catalogue. New York: the Grolier Club.

•Two Decades of Hamady & The Perishable Press Limited. Exhibition and catalogue. Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.

1985

•Columbia University/Terry Belanger begin offering Rare Book School in the summers.

•Publication of Artists Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook, edited by Joan Lyons.

•January: MCBA opens its doors; October 26, 1984. As of January 1985, MCBA officially opens to public.

•October 20: Fourth Biennial Book Arts Fair, co-sponsored by The Book Arts Guild and the Society for Calligraphy and Handwriting, in Seattle, WA

•The University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa launches its M.F.A. in the Book Arts Program through the School of Library and Information Studies, which remains the U.S. program most closely identified with a high level of craft.

1986

•June 29 - July 12: Oxbow Paper and Book Intensive, Oxbow, Saugatuck, MI

•Richard Mathews relocates to teach at the University of Tampa, and the Press is reestablished there the following year. Now part of the University of Tampa Press, the Tampa Book Arts Studio includes an extensive letterpress shop, simple binding equipment, and a library of reference books numbering over 5,000, as well as examples of early fine printing.

•The National Collegiate Book Arts Exhibition, organized by Richard Zauft and the University of South Dakota, travels to nine sites across the U.S. (until 1988) to highlight the growing options for study at the college level.

•Hand Papermaking journal founded.

1987

•June 12 - 13: American Antiquarian Society conference on "Teaching the History of the Book", at AAS in Worcester, MA.

•Red Ozier Press, 1976-1987.

•Doors of Perception: Essays in Book Typography, by Harry Duncan, published by W. Thomas Taylor, Austin.

1988

•The Alliance for Contemporary Book Arts begun in early 1988 by Gerald Lange and others. Begins publishing the journal AbraCadaBrA.

•University of the Arts, Philadelphia, with Hedi Kyle as Director, begins to offer an MFA degree in the Bk Arts.

•"Artists of the Book 1988", an exhibition at American Craft Museum in NYC.

•Monica Strauss opens MJS Books and Graphics in NYC in November.

•April 28 - 30: The Collegiate Press Conference at Colorado College, hosted by Jim Trissel.

•July 14 - 20: American Typecasting Fellowship Conference, at Terra Alta, West Virginia, organized by Rich Hopkins (info provided by Risseeuw).

•September 24: APHA Annual Conference: "The Book Arts in Philadelphia, 1785-1840", at the Library Company in Philadelphia.

•MCBA publishes an essay, “The Growth of Collegiate Book Arts Activity in America,” on the occasion of the showing of work by graduates and current students from Mills College.

1989

•@ now: more dealers in NYC: Tony Zwicker, Steve Clay/Granary Books, Monica Strauss/MJS Books and Graphics, Ted Cronin.

•January 1: Granary Books moves to NYC; Steve Clay purchased the business from Jim Sitter and expands into publishing.

•March 8 -11: 17th Annual Conference of the Southern Graphics Council at the University of Texas at Austin. Conference theme: "The Art of the Collaborative Print and the Rise of the University Collaborative Print Publishing Program." (info. provided by Risseeuw; he presented).

•August 21 - 30: Seventh Paper and Book Intensive, in Abiquiu, NM

•October 26 - 28: Conference to celebrate 50th anniv. of Cummington Press, and the opening of the Center for Book Arts at Univ. of Neb.-Omaha.

•November 9 - 11: "Letterforms and Typography" Conference on the Book Arts, at Lilly Library in Bloomington, Indiana.

1990

•Mills College ceases to offer a degree program in Book Arts (see also ...).

•March 14-17: "Collaborations and Connections", a conference of the Collegiate Book Arts Press Council, in Tempe, AZ. Host John Risseeuw says that the Association of Book Arts Programs formed.

•March 30 - April 1: Book Arts in the USA Conference, NYC. Also called the First National Book Arts Conference [sic], organized by Richard Minsky and the Center for Book Arts. Noted on Joan Lyons’s timeline.

•June 9 - 19: The American Antiquarian Society's 4th summer Seminar in the History of the Book in American Culture, in Worcester, MA.

•July 21-Aug. 3: Paper and Book Intensive, at the Pasadena Conference Center in Royal Oak, MD.

•October 4 - 7: Typocrafters 90, in Chicago. Sebastian Carter, speaker.

•Pyramid Atlantic’s inaugural Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

•Fine Print ceases publication.

1991

•February: CAA in Washington, D.C. offers its first Book Arts panel; great success.

•June 14-15, "Iconography and the Culture of the Book"; Conference by American Antiquarian Society's Program in the History of the Book in American Culture, in Worcester, MA (at AAS).

•June 16-18, Ninth Paper and Book Intensive, Indianola, WA

•August 15-16: National Book Arts Conference and Exhibition, San Francisco, New College of CA. Described in Ampersand journal, Summer 1991, p. 8.

•September 14th, Washington, D.C. American Printing History Association 1991, 16th Annual Conference: "A Washington Wayzgoose."

•September 26: "Honoring the Book; A Conference to Examine the Book Historically and Discuss its Future within the Context of Current Developments in Electronic Communications," at The University of Wisconsin-Madison (also known as "Whither the Book?")

•October 11-13: Typocrafters Ninety-One Conference, in Williamsburg, VA.

•October 21-21: Book Arts Institute 1991 at Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), coinciding with the opening of the new Cary Graphic Arts Library, followed on Oct. 25-26 by a Goudy Award Symposium.

•November 8 - 10: "The Art of the Contemporary Book," a conference at Ohio State University in Columbus.

•Bookways begins publication.

•Jim Trissel at The Press at Colorado College, publishes The Cycle of the Day. A Book of Hours, which incorporates the extensive use of photo-polymer plates.

1992

•Terry Belanger moves Book Arts Press and related programming to University of Virginia from Columbia University.

•Decherd Turner’s “A Perplexed Scene” published in Bookways in April.

•The Janus Press 1981-90, third catalogue raisonné with essay by Ruth Fine Lehrer, published by University of Vermont Libraries-Burlington.

•The Gehenna Press: The work of Fifty Years: 1942-1992 (The Bridwell Library and The Gehenna Press, 1992). Traveling exhibition and illustrated catalogue.

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Second Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

1993

•September 29-October 2. Conference: "The Next Wave: Books at the Intersection of Icon and Artifact," hosted by Mills College Book Arts Program and The Center for the Book at Mills. This is the fourth Council of Book Arts Programs conference.

•Oak Knoll Fest I, annual fine press Book Fair and Symposium in New Castle, Delaware, begins.

•October 22-24. Wells College Press hosts symposium honoring life and work of Victor Hammer, founder of the press, at Wells College Book Arts Center in Aurora, New York.

•November 16-17. Wellesley College hosts "The Book Arts in New England Colleges," a symposium, exhibition, and half-day workshops on bookbinding and hand printing.

•Made in the Midwest: Walter Hamady’s 6451 Students. Racine, Wisconsin: Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts.

1994

•William Everson dies, June 3.

•Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts opens, including offering a Master’s Degree with a Concentration in Book and Paper Arts, through the interdisciplinary arts department at Columbia College; see 1997 for MFA.

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Third Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

• Peter Verheyen founds the BookArts listserv and affiliated web site.

1995

•The first Oak Knoll Fest book fair in New Castle, DE.

•Bookways ceases publication with its Summer (nos. 15 & 16) issue.

•Trance and Recalcitrance: Twenty Years of Poltroon Press. The Private Voice in the Public Realm. (San Francisco: Pacific Center for the Book Arts in association with the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library).

1996

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Fourth Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

1997

•Columbia College adds to its MA degree and begins to offer the MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts.

•Harry Duncan dies at age 80.

•Printing & the Mind of Merker: A Bibliographical Study. Exhibition and catalogue. New York: The Grolier Club.

1998

•Parenthesis journal begins publication, twice-yearly (pretty sure).

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Fifth Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

•"The Impact of Digital Technologies on Letterpress Printing and the Book Arts." First "Hot Type in a Cold World" symposium, hosted by the Silver Buckle Press, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

•Gerald Lange publishes Digital Printing on the Cylinder Hand Press, which explores the expressive possibilities of polymer platemaking conjoined with desktop publishing and improved font software for letterpress printers.

1999

•Jim Trissel dies at age 69. He was founder of The Press at Colorado College (1978-).

•Speaking of Book Art: Interviews with British and American Book Artists, by Cathy Courtney. Several interviews with artists who work with or have worked with letterpress.

2000

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Sixth Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

2001

•9/11.

•The Maker’s Hand: Twenty Books by Ken Campbell. Catalogue published in conjunction with exhibition at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbuttel, Germany.

2002

•Cooking the Books: Ron King and Circle Press. Catalogue published in conjunction with exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, on their acquisition of the Circle Press archive.

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Seventh Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

2003

2004

•Peter Verheyen launches and edits the on-line journal, The Bonefolder.

•By Chance: Serendipity and Randomness in Contemporary Artists’ Books, by Robin Price and Jae Jennifer Rossman, is published by Rossman’s the jenny-press.

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Eighth Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

•Carolee Campbell's Ninja Press celebrates its 20th anniversary.

•Yale University's Arts of the Book Collection, located in the Art Library, acquires the Richard Minsky Archive.

2005

•Half-Life: 25 Years of Books by Barbara Tetenbaum & Triangular Press, exhibition and catalogue (published by the artist), at Multnomah Country Library in Portland, Oregon.

•"Recasting Gutenberg: New Scholarship on Johann Gutenberg, 'Man of the Millennium.'" Second "Hot Type in a Cold World" symposium, hosted by the Silver Buckle Press, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

•"Artists' Books Conference" at Wellesley College, June 15-18, organized around the theme of collecting, in addition to exhibition and catalogue, Resonance and Response.

•Peter Koch creates the CODEX Foundation (see 2007).

2006

•The Janus Press—Fifty Years, fourth catalogue raisonné with essay by Ruth Fine, published by the University of Vermont Libraries-Burlington.

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Ninth Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

2007

•The Codex Foundation launches the inaugural biennial CODEX Book Fair dedicated to the overlapping fields of fine press and artists’ books, with accompanying Symposium on “The Fate of the Art, The Hand Made Book in the 21st Century.”

•The Book as Art: Artists’ Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Washington, D.C. Exhibition and catalogue.

2008

•Illustrated Fine Printing: Whittington & Matrix in America. New York: The Center for Book Arts. Exhibition and catalogue.

•Fresh Impressions: Letterpress Printing in Contemporary Art. Exhibition and catalogue. Portland: Oregon College of Art and Craft.

•Oak Knoll Fest XV, Book Fair and Symposium in New Castle, Delaware, with celebration of Henry Morris’s 50thAnniversary in Printing.

•Pyramid Atlantic’s Tenth Biennial Book Arts Fair and Conference, “Society and Sensoria: Books at the Speed of the Senses,” in Silver Spring, Maryland.

•Yale University symposium, "Metaphor Taking Shape: Poetry, Art, and the Book."

•College Book Art Association is established to support and promote academic book arts education with a biennial conference and (as of 2011) an online journal, among other programs.

2009

•Inaugural biannual conference of the College Book Art Association, at the University of Iowa-Iowa City, on “Art, Fact, and Artifact: The Book in Place and Time.”

•Second biannual CODEX Book Fair, with the symposium theme, “Considering the Book as a Work of Art.”

•“The Hybrid Book: Intersection and Intermedia,” conference and book fair hosted by the MFA Book Arts / Printmaking Program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

•“Mature Content: the Artist’s Book as Advocate,” first biennial at Minnesota Center for Book Arts, during which MCBA announces first winner of the MCBA Prize, an international intermedia prize for new book art.

2010

2011

•Third biannual CODEX Book Fair, with the symposium theme, “Borders and Collaborations.”

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Milestones Decreasing!

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Time & How We Tell It

LETTERPRESS TIMELINE, 1970 to the Present (in process)