Programs > Conference > 2009
The Book Beautiful
Newport: October 16–18, 2009
APHA’s 34th Annual Conference, “The Book Beautiful,” meets in Newport, Rhode Island, October 16th-18th, 2009, during our 35th anniversary year. The background for the theme is T.J. Cobden-Sanderson’s insight, voiced in London at the Art Workers’ Guild in 1892, that “if the Book Beautiful may be beautiful by virtue of its writing or printing or illustration, or binding, or by virtue of the thing to be communicated to the mind, it may also be beautiful by the union of all to the production of one composite whole, the consummate Book Beautiful.” Investigating the production and impact of such texts and books will take our conference from 18th-century printing in Newport, London, and Paris, to 20th-21st-century books in the United States, England, and France.
The program has been published and registration is now open. William S. Peterson, emeritus professor of English at the University of Maryland and editor of APHA’s journal, Printing History, will deliver the keynote address.
Detailed Conference Program (PDF) (Schedule with expanded talk topics)
Registration Form (PDF)
Museum of Printing Broadside Competition (PDF)
Summary Conference Program and Registration Form (PDF)
Accommodation Suggestions (Word Doc)
NB Other options can be found through travel-booking websites such as www.hotels.com, www.expedia.com, or www.priceline.com.
APHA recommends using internet sources such as MapQuest or Google Maps to get maps and driving directions.
Additional information will be forthcoming.
Special thanks to:
New England Chapter of ABAA
New England Chapter of APHA
John Russell Bartlett Society
Thomas Poynton Ives Fund
The Museum of Printing, North Andover
Newport Public Library
Newport Art Museum
Redwood Library
Rhode Island Center for the Book at Providence Library
External Links to our host institutions:
Redwood Library
Newport Public Library
Newport Art Museum
Conference Announcement
The American Printing History Association (APHA) invites proposals for “The Book Beautiful,” its annual conference, to be held 16–18 October 2009 at Newport, RI. We seek presentations on all forms of printed and manuscript creation where the aim is to produce an object of aesthetic beauty with form and content reinforcing one another. Such works include not only the traditional codex, but also pamphlets, periodicals, broadsides, ephemera, calligraphic and illuminated manuscripts, and websites, where elements such as text, illustration, binding, typography, design, paper, production technique and quality come together to produce a visually and intellectually stimulating, harmonious whole.
The conference theme is not limited to the end of the nineteenth century but the title is founded on T.J. Cobden-Sanderson’s words (from his 1892 lecture to the Art Workers Guild in London, and repeated by him in later versions):
“If the Book Beautiful may be beautiful by virtue of its writing or printing or illustration, or binding, or by virtue of the thing to be communicated to the mind, it may also be beautiful by the union of all to the production of one composite whole, the consummate Book Beautiful.”
We welcome proposals which range across many historical periods, from the Book of Kells to the Venetian printers of the Renaissance to the makers of livres d’artistes to examples cited in Edward Tufte's Beautiful Evidence—up to the present moment. Contributions are sought from historians and critics in a variety of (and across) disciplines, curators, librarians, collectors, designers, printers, and artists. The varied format of the conference will allow for a mix of short papers, panels with three or four participants and a moderator, and workshops and demonstrations by book artists located near Newport.
William S. Peterson, emeritus professor of English at the University of Maryland and editor of APHA’s journal, Printing History, will deliver the keynote address. The distinguished scholar of William Morris and the Kelmscott Press and the editor of the collected writings of D. B. Updike, Peterson is also a typographer and graphic designer.
Guidelines for Proposals
- Proposals for 20-minute short papers should include paper topic and abstract (500 words maximum), contact details, and a short biographical statement or curriculum vitae.
- Proposals for panels of three or four speakers (each allotted 15 minutes) are expected to come from the putative moderator. A description of the topic (500 words maximum) should be accompanied by contact details and biographical information for each participant.
- We also welcome proposals for workshop demonstrations by local practitioners in the book arts whose work aims toward “The Book Beautiful.” For these submit a short (250 words maximum) statement about your activities and qualifications, together with an explanation of the demonstration, its location, how many might attend, and contact details. Examples of produced work may be requested by the program committee.
- All proposals should indicate audio-visual requirements such as slide or digital projectors.
Please note that presenters must be APHA members at the time of conference registration. For accepted submissions, we request first refusal for publication to be given to Printing History, if possible.
Deadline: 1 April 2009
E-mail materials as attachments (MS Word, PDF or text files) to apha2009conference@gmail.com. Mail proposals to:
Alice Beckwith, APHA Vice President for Programs,
Department of Art & Art History
Providence College, Providence, RI 02918 USA.
APHA’s 34th Annual Conference, “The Book Beautiful,” meets in Newport, Rhode Island, October 16th–18th, 2009, during our 35th anniversary year. The program has been published and registration is now open. William S. Peterson, emeritus professor of English at the University of Maryland and editor of APHA’s journal, Printing History, will deliver the keynote address.
The recent issue of the Newsletter contains an announcement of the upcoming annual conference in Newport, Rhode Island; various notices of interest; chapter news from across the country; articles by Paul Moxon on the Vandercook and by Frank Romano on the typographic point; and a trustee profile of Russell Maret. Download it in PDF form here.
You'll read in the summer newsletter that from the fall issue 2009 (number 172) onwards the Newsletter will only be available in electronic form on this website. It will no longer be printed and mailed to members, a significant cost savings that may have an unexpected benefit: going electronic will make it possible for us to produce more newsletters each year. For the time being the design of the newsletter will remain the same, so those who wish to print it out will have the recognizable and familiar object to hold. Soon though we will reformat it somewhat for easier reading on your i-Phone or Blackberry. Of course we will continue to archive the newsletter on the website, so that all back issues will be available. We are also investigating ways to feed the publication to interested subscribers.
The excellent Brian Frykenberg is stepping down from the editorship of the Newsletter after the next issue and we need are seeking an active and well-connected member to replace him. The new editor will come just as we are migrating from print to electronic, a great opportunity for a creative, web-savvy person to expand and enhance our beloved workhorse. Contact Martin Antonetti, the VP for Publications, at mantonet@smith.edu if you are interested or know of someone who might be.