The American Printing History Association

 Printing History
 The Journal of the American Printing History Association

About APHA

Printing History

Regional Chapters

APHA Events

Site Map

Join APHA

Current and Recent Issues

The current issue of Printing History is mailed to members as part of your calendar-year membership in APHA. Join APHA to enjoy the full benefits of membership. A complete list of contents for all original series back issues is online with contents for the news series, as well as a subject, author and title index for nos. 1-30 (o.s.). Back Issues are available

Printing History, New Series No. 4

	The fourth issue of Printing History, New Series, focuses on type repositories and typographic design, with articles by James Mosley and Simon Loxley See the table of contents.

Printing History, New Series No. 3

	The third issue of Printing History, New Series, has articles by Gabe Smedresman on Geofroy Tory and Joan Boudreau on publishing the results of expeditions exploring the territory of the United States. This issue also has reviews of four recent books on printing and typography. See the table of contents.

Printing History, New Series No. 2

The second issue of Printing History, New Series, has articles by Lance Hidy on calligraphy and letterpress printing in design education, and by  Matthew J. Shaw, on almanacs from the time of Benjamin Franklin. This issue also has reviews of ten books on printing, typography and bibliography. See the table of contents.

Printing History, New Series No. 1

The first issue of Printing History, New Series, has articles by Gregory Graalfs on the role of photography in reproduction in settling California, and by Kitty Maryatt on the Scripps College book on Gutenberg's Gutenberg B42 Bible leaf, Beorum II. This first issue also has reviews of fourteen important books on printing, typography and bibliography. See the table of contents.

Printing History, [Original Series] no. 50 (Volume 26, No.2) 2009
[Note: this issue is misnumbered and should be vol. 25 no. 2]

The final issue of Printing History original series, has articles by Helena Wright, Richard Flint, William S. Peterson and David Pankow.

Printing History, [Original Series] no. 49 (Volume 25, No. 1) 2006

The penultimate issue of Printing History original series, has articles by Charles Creesy on the Monticello Typeface, Amelia Hugill-Fontanel on Deberny et Peignot's Arts et Metiers Graphiques magazine, and Ellen Mazur Thomson on the Graphic Forms Lectures.

Whole Number 48 (Volume 24, No. 2) 2005

No. 48 (Vol. XXIV no. 2) features articles on book arts and printing:

This issue of Printing History begins with an article by David Whitesell on Thomas Jefferson's book collecting habits and tastes. It was originally presented as a paper at the 1995 APHA Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, and recommended by many attendees for publication; Whitesell has taken advantage of the intervening years to substantially refine and enlarge an already meticulous examination of Jefferson's sympathies for the book arts. We continue with Philip Weimerskirch's study of early color printing in America, and in particular, Jacob Bigelow's American Medical Botany (1817-1821), the first book in this country to have most of its illustrations printed in more than one color. Weimerskirch uses summaries of contemporary color printing processes, excerpts from contemporary book reviews, and an analysis of variant states of the book to settle many of the questions that have swirled around this publication's place in color printing history. This issue concludes with a generously illustrated article by David Hanson on the use of the woodburytype process in the United States. Despite its extraordinary tonal range and graphic appeal, the process was difficult to master and enjoyed only a brief period of use as a book illustration process in this country.

  --David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue]

Printing History,  no. 47 (Vol. XXIV no. 1) features articles on type and typographic design:

This issue of Printing History features a long article by the late Peter Halliday that may at first seem off subject to many of our readers. The article documents a long friendship between the calligrapher Edward Johnston and  the poet Robert Bridges that focuses on their mutual interest  in developing a new phonetic alphabet for the English language [....] This article is an expanded version of a chapter that will appear in Peter's much longer study of Johnston to be published sometime in 2005.
  --David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue]

No. 46 (Vol. XXIII no. 2) This issue featured talks from the 2000 APHA Conference at the Rochester Institute of Technology:

Our first article, based on the conference's keynote address, is by Robert Bringhurst. Deeply reflective and deeply gently philosophical, he guides the reader through a landscape of paintings, language, type and symbols, metaphors for the way we communicate with the world.... [....] Kay Amert summarizes her computer-aided analyses of two italic and two roman typefaces used by Simon de Colines and Robert Estienne and--through the use of super-imposed scanned images-- dramatically illustrates points and similarity and difference. [....] Beginning in 1945, the phototypesetting era was characterized by feats of incredible engineering, aggressive competition, and an "anything goes" approach to type design, as publishers converted from letterpress printing to offset. The conference program, therefore, included an assessment of photocomposition and its place in printing history by long-time industry expert and observer Frank Romano. The present article not only greatly expands on the comments and observations that he made at the conference, but includes a useful timeline of events and list of what needs to be saved from this important period.
  --David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue]

No. 45 (Vol. XXIII no. 1) This issue featured, two comprehensive and liberally illustrated articles of New England printing interest and ended with a tribute to Hugh Amory, one of the quiet masters of twentieth-century bibliography.

Donald O'Brien's article on the nineteenth century banknote engraving firm of Terry, Pelton & Company. Working from a small group of business letters written by Oliver Pelton to his partner William Terry over the course of the year 1834, the author traces each letter's many references and reveals the complex and fascinating world of American banknote printing. [....] The second of our two main articles is by J.F. Coakley and documents the life and work of Homan Hallock, a young man of uncertain prospects who left Boston in 1826 to become a missionary printer in Malta. Developing a consuming interest in arabic types, he invented an ingenious pantographic tracing device, and became a punchcutter of extraordinary ability and tenacity.   --David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue]

No. 43/44 (Vol. XXII nos. 1-2) (ATF Issue)

No. 43/44 (Vol. XXII nos. 1-2) was a special double issue dedicated to the American Type Founders (ATF) exhibition of 2000-2001 at Columbia University.

We are pleased to present the readers of Printing History with a special double issue devoted to one of the most important resources in the United States for printing history studies: the Typographic Library and Museum originally formed by Henry Lewis Bullen for the American Type Founders Company and since 1936 housed at Columbia University in New York City. The issue was inspired by "Type to Print: The Book & The Type Specimen Book," an exhibition prepared by Jennifer B. Lee.... The labels...have been revised and edited for publication and are accompanied by a generous selection of illustrations. [....] In addition, Jennifer Lee has edited a sampling from the correspondence that Bullen conducted on behalf of ATF that provides a fascinating glimpse into his complex and compelling personality.  --David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue]

No. 42 (Vol. XXI no. 2)

The five articles in [number 42] include Joseph A. Dane's thorough bibliographical analysis of an important fifteenth century blockbook, Kay Amert's beautifully illustrated study of some sixteenth century French oldstyle romans used by the printer Simon de Colines, Peter K. Fallon's discussion of the political and religious factors that inhibited the early establishment of printing in Ireland, Philip J. Weimerskirch's investigation into the fascinating life of the nineteenth century press builder Abraham O. Stansbury, and, finally, Gerald Lange's review of Matthew Carter's new Manutius /Miller type, developed especially for the catalog of the Aldine Press collection at the University of California, Los Angeles. --David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue]

No. 41 (Vol. XXI no. 1) (APHA's 1999 Conference at the Grolier Club).

Kenneth Auchincloss's wonderful survey of postwar fine printing demonstrates that, far from sinking into decline as letterpress gave way to offset, private press printing prospered in the latter half of the twentieth century. Martino Mardersteig, son of book designer Gionvanni and a designer in his own right, discusses the productions of the Ceno Amici del Libro, an Italian book club. Impeccably designed, illustrated, and printed on the handpress, these volumes are bibliophilic treasures. Carol Grossman recounts the history of one of the great facsimiles of the twentieth century: the Trianon Press's reproduction of William Blake's watercolor drawings for the Poems of Thomas Gray, published in 1972.  This issue concludes with Sebastian Carter's captivating look at the celebrated Rampant Lions Press, founded by his father Will Carter in 1949. For over fifty years now, the Press has successfully balanced its more ambitious publications with jobbing work, doing both equally well, and winning renown for its versatility and striking typography. --David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue]

This issue of Printing History can be ordered as a back issue, using this order form.

No. 40 (Way & Williams, the Grabhorn Press)

(Vol. XX no. 2; whole number 40) has articles on printers' devices, machine advertising, Way & Williams Publishers and the Grabhorn Press. This issue also introduces a new design for Printing History, the work of Jerry Kelly. From Editor David Pankow:

Marvin Heller's  article on printers' devices will engage specialist and general reader alike with its account of how intricately woven monograms came to be used as graphic identity marks by the printers of certain Hebrew books. Richard Candee discusses an unusually complete collection of broadsides and other material documenting the sales and promotion strategies of the the Aikens of New Hampshire, a nineteenth century family of inventors. Peter Hanff revised and enlarged his popular APHA 1998 Conference talk on the Chicago publishing firm of Way & Williams. Alfred W. Baxter writes about the surprisingly large body of ephemera produced by the Grabhorn Press of San Francisco.     - David Pankow, Editor. [See Table of contents for this issue] This issue of Printing History can be ordered as a back issue, using this order form.

Special Double Issue (38-39) on Black Letter

"Blackletter: Type and National Identity." This special double issue (Vol. XIX no. 2 - Vol. XX no. 1; whole numbers 38/39) is a catalog of an exhibition curated by Peter Bain and Paul Shaw at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, held March 3 to May 2, 1998.

A separate monograph edited by Bain and Shaw --Blackletter: Type and National Identity-- was issued in conjunction with (and using the title of) the exhibition, but a record of the display itself, with its richly informative labels, faced uncertain publication. Presented with such a remarkable opportunity, the board of the American Printing History Association offered to publish the catalog as a special issue of Printing History. Bain and Shaw thereupon adapted the label text used for the display and included as many illustrations as possible.    - David Pankow, Editor. The "Blackletter" issue of Printing History can be ordered as a back issue, using this order form. (An online version of this exhibition is maintained by The Cooper Union.)

The current issue is available as part of membership in APHA. Join APHA to enjoy the full benefits of membership and start receiving Printing History.

Comprehensive table of contents for all issues in the Original Series.

Author, Subject and Title Index (Issues 1-32 O.S.)
See what you have been missing in this index to Printing History.

Back Issues Available

Submitting a Manuscript

Copyright 2009 The American Printing History Association. All rights reserved.
APHA Contacts