Acme Bookbinding is proud to be a supporter of

At the turn of the last century, Boston was a hub of ideas, craft, and industry. The Boston book movement and much excellent and innovative printing resulted. Today, the city is still a hub of the book arts, and with the blossoming of the digital century we are now a society of printers. This exhibit sets out to make us mindful of our history and traditions, and to foster excellence.

In addition to displaying the books, broadsides, and ephemera that have distinguished Boston as a center of printing, the exhibit will hold demonstrations of typesetting, printing, binding, and related book arts. Video kiosks recreate the sights and sounds of print shops and show how printing has moved into the digital age.

Boston Ink is sponsored by the Society of Printers on its one hundredth anniversary and by the Boston Public Library.

Link to the Boston Public Library web site.

The following talks are scheduled during the run of the exhibition:

April 13, 2005, at 6:00 p.m.
Michael Hawley
“Shangri-La: The Bhutan Book”
Abbey Room, Boston Public Library

April 27, 2005, at 6:00 p.m.
The Thirty-first Annual W. A. Dwiggins Lecture
Milton Glaser, graphic designer
“Design and Ambiguity”
Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library

May 13, 2005, at 6:00 p.m.
Eleanor Garvey, former Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts at the Houghton Library, Harvard University
“Collectors and Collecting”
Abbey Room, Boston Public Library

Demonstrations will be held on Tuesday afternoons and Thursday evenings during the course of the exhibition:

Digital Type Design
Tuesday April 12, at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 14, 6:00 p.m.
Scott-Martin Kosofsky, writer and book designer who designs his own typefaces, will demonstrate how digital typefaces are made and discuss what makes a typeface easy or difficult to read.

Calligraphy
Tuesday April 19, at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday April 21, at 6:00 p.m.
Margaret Shepherd, author of Learn Calligraphy, will demonstrate medieval gothic lettering using metal dip-pens. Participants will try their hand and take home manuscripts samples.

Bookbinding
Tuesday April 26, at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 28, at 6:00 p.m.
Students from the North Bennet Street School will demonstrate the art of bookbinding.

A Book in Hand
Tuesday May 10, at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday May 12, at 6:00 p.m.
Roberta Zonghi, Keeper of Rare Books at the Boston Public Library, and John Kristensen of the Firefly Press preside over great books from the last century. The books will be taken from behind glass and held by participants, who will be able to examine the books, turn their pages, and discuss their shape and content.

Letterpress Printing
Tuesday May 24, at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday May 26, at 6:00 p.m.
John Kristensen of the Firefly Press offers a demonstration of how to hand set type and print it on a Vandercook press. Participants will crank the press themselves and create their own keepsakes to take home.

Wood-Engraving
Tuesday June 7, at 3:00 p.m.
Bruce Chandler of the Heron Press will demonstrate the art of wood-engraving. Participants will then print the images.

Brush Lettering for Stone-cut Letters
Thursday June 9, at 6:00 p.m.
Nancy Trottier, incunabulist, will demonstrate brush lettering and stone carving with stone carver Nick Benson.

For further information, please contact Patricia Peterson, Secretary.

Revised March 20, 2005