Before there were 'Zines,

there were little magazines. Taking their cue from European and British literary and artistic journals, small American publications helped define the emerging modernist aesthetic at the turn of the twentieth century. As one of them put it, "Strangely fashioned periodicals, preaching fantastic doctrines, uttering weird thoughts, began to appear like mushrooms after a shower. " Sound familiar?
The Grolier Club of New York currently features an exhibition of these publications, called American Little Magazines of the 1890s: A Revolution in Print through April 27. Drawing from its own collection as well as from other sources, this exhibit includes rare examples of the form, as well as little magazines from Britain and Europe for comparison. This should be well worth seeing if you're in New York.

American Little Magazines of the 1890s: A Revolution in Print 

Dates:
Feb. 20-April 27, 2013

Location: 
The Grolier Club  47 East 60th Street (between Park and Madison Avenues) 
New York City 

Details:
http://www.grolierclub.org/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=289912&ssid=169182&vnf=1

One Book, One Philadelphia

We all know that Philadelphia is a wonderful book city and always has been. As part of that heritage, the 11th annual One Book, One Philadelphia project is under way and continues until March 13. A joint project of the Mayor's Office and the Free Library of Philadelphia, One Book, One Philadelphia has the goal of promoting literacy and encouraging the Philadelphia community to come together through reading and discussing a single book.

This year, the selected book is PEN/Faulkner Award Winner and National Book Award finalist The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. The program includes a wide range of talks, discussions, films, performances, origami and bookmaking activities, and events with the author. There is something for all ages and interests.

Although PCB has no direct involvement in One Book, One Philadelphia this year, it offers  many events to interest members. And, as advocates of the city's book culture, we should applaud and support this project.

Details, schedule, background, resources, etc.:
http://libwww.freelibrary.org/onebook/obop13/index.cfm

Fan Book Workshop

In conjunction with its current exhibit, The Art of The Fan: Beyond The Victorian Lady, The Athenaeum is presenting a one-day workshop on fan books. PCB member Maria Pisano leads this hands-on investigation of an unusual book structure. 

Date: 
March 2, 2013 10:00am-4:00pm

Location: 
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
219 S. 6th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106


Details & Registration:
http://www.philaathenaeum.org/workshops.html

For information on the exhibit, see http://www.philaathenaeum.org/current.html

MAPnificent: Artists Use Maps

Maps do more than tell you where to go. This exhibit explores some of their other functions, as interpreted through art.

Curator: Yulia Tikhonova, Founder of Brooklyn House of Kulture

Dates: February 1–March 31

Location: AIGA Philadelphia SPACE,
72 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
www.aigaphilly.org

Paula Scher, Joyce Kozloff, Doug Beube, Carole Kundstadt, Viviane Rombaldi Seppey, Karin Schaefer, Dahlia Elsaed, Alastair Nobel, Aga Oussinov, Paul Fabozzi, Amy Pryor, Irina Danilova, Robert Walden, Adriane Littman, Brooklyn Art Library, Hand Map Drawn Association 

MAPnificent: Artists Use Maps brings together a group of artists who creatively employ the philosophy and technique of mapping to convey information ranging from sociological data to aesthetic stimuli. 

The exhibit features paintings, works on paper and sculpture that reflect the artists’ concerns for the current state of our society, conveyed though charts and diagrams, and their admiration of the map as a symbol of longing and the unknown. The works included either illustrate a scientific research in demographics, or a flow of capital, or distribution of patterns, but also present the artists’ reverence for maps. 

For some of the exhibiting artists, mapping is a tool to create interactive visuals with the help of sophisticated tools for image manipulation that arrange numbers into intricate geometrical forms. 

Maps are primarily received as directional; a subway or bus map is understood as a tool to get somewhere. In fact, the title of this exhibition borrows from a google-map application, MAPNIFICENT, which calculates the time between places via public transportation. For the artists, however, a map is often an end in itself: a work of art, filled with revelation and delight.

Local Workshops

Two unusual workshops are coming up in the next month. These are good opportunities to expand your arsenal of print and paper skills.

At Second State Press:

Mokuhanga Workshop

Dates: March 9th and 10th, 10am – 5:30pm

Learn how to achieve multiple colors in a woodblock image with perfect registration through the traditional technique of Japanese woodblock printing. This workshop will be an introduction to the printing process moku hanga, which uses water-based pigments (or sumi ink), a kento registration method, and is printed by hand with a baren. Participants will learn about tools, materials, carving sequence and printing methods associated with this process.  All participants will have the opportunity to carve and print their own multiple block images. One of the wonderful aspects of this process is that it does not require a press, or a large workspace!

Class Cost & Material Fee: $270 for members, $324 for non-members

Second State Press
Crane Arts Building
1400 N. American Street, B103
Philadelphia, PA 19122
t:215-232-2120

http://secondstatepress.org

Guild of Papermakers and the University of the Arts Book Arts Program:

Lecture 

Date: Saturday, March 16 10:30 – 11:30 AM 

Free and Open to all, 

Location: Anderson Hall, UArts, 333 S. Broad Street.

Internationally recognized paper and book artist Helen Hiebert will share examples of her most recent work, including her limited edition artists’ books, a video documentary about the Mother Tree Project, her traveling community installation about motherhood, and the Secret Life of Paper, a short film about abaca. She will also discuss her adventures in writing how-to books and using social media in the paper world. Find out more about Helen's work at www.helenhiebertstudio.com.

Watermark Workshop

Date: Saturday, March 16,  afternoon and all day Sunday, March 17

Location: UArts paper studio

Watermarking is technique unique to handmade paper which is useful in making books, lamps, lanterns and more. Join Helen Hiebert as we experiment with wire, fabric paint, and rubber to create watermark designs. We will attach the designs to removable screens, place them on top of papermaking moulds and form sheets which will reveal the watermarks. We will discuss and experiment with suitable watermarking pulps, and we’ll also explore layering sheets of paper to make watermarked images that are visible without backlighting. Each participant will make a couple of watermarked screens, pull sheets using those screens, and will be able to take the screens back to their studio for continued use. We will also do a watermark exchange, so that every participant gets to take home a variety of watermarked sheets.

Fee: $170 per person, limited space 

To register or for more information, email winnie.r@verizon.net .

American Bookbinders Museum needs help

The American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco has suffered water damage, and needs immediate support. It's an important resource for documenting the history of the bookbinding industry in America.

I visited the museum last summer, and Tim James, the president, was very generous with his time and knowledge. It's well worth preserving.

Below are details on the situation and how you can help.

Museum must relocate to another San Francisco location - your help urgently needed now! With the bursting of plumbing pipes above the museum ceiling three times during the past few weeks, we suffered our own "mini-Sandy" within the confines of the museum, threatening both the public display area as well as the library.  Although we were spared what could have been the complete destruction of our library the plumber  was not optimistic about the safety of our museum from future flooding and damage. Therefore, the Board of directors has no recourse but to vacate the premises and immediately seek a new location. We are in immediate need of a secure, dry, temperature controlled space within San Francisco to store  our collection of over 3000 books and periodicals, as well as space for 9 four drawer filing cabinets of binding and printing literature, several dozen boxes of paper samples, binding samples and other ephemera. Finally we need a storage space of approximately 750 sf with a loading dock, or a forklift, to store our collection of 19th century bookbinding equipment.   Donations to defray what promises to be the substantial  cost of removal and storage would be graciously appreciated and can be made online byclicking here. If you prefer to send a tax-deductible check,  please make the check out to The American Bookbinders Museum and send it to: Bookbinders Museum Relief The American Bookbinders Museum c/o Taurus Bookbindery 2736 16 th street  San Francisco, CA. 94110 For further questions I can be reached anytime  9:00 AM-9:00 PM PST at 415-710-9369  (Tim James)   or emailed at: Tim@Bookbindersmuseum.com

Call for Entries: Altered Books

Bound and Unbound II: Altered Book Exhibition

Deadline: March 5, 2013 (ONLINE) or (RECEIVE)


Bound and Unbound II: Altered Book Exhibition
Hosted by the Art and Exhibits Committee,
University Libraries
University of South Dakota
Vermillion, SD

August 28 - December 20, 2013

Bound and Unbound II: Altered Book Exhibition entry is open to all. Entry is free. Artists may submit up to three works for consideration.

Artists may submit either a CD or electronic files of images may be submitted via CD or attached to online form.

Submitted application materials will not be returned.

SPECIFICATIONS

Books may come from any source. All work must be original and executed within the last three years. The cases in which Bound and Unbound II will be displayed are 80” long, 28 ½” wide, and 8 ½“deep. The University Libraries reserve the right to refuse work difficult to exhibit due to excessive size, weight, or difficulty in presentation.

JUROR
Karen Bondarchuk. Bondarchuk is foundation area coordinator and associate professor at the Frostic School of Art, Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI.

Visit website: http://libguides.usd.edu/bookart

Download Prospectus: http://www.usd.edu/library/upload/Prospectus-Bound-and-Unbound-II.pdf

MORE INFORMATION

Sarah A. Hanson, (605) 677-5249, Sarah.Hanson@usd.edu
Danielle De Jager-Loftus, (605) 677-5123, Danielle.Loftus@usd.edu
Abby Moore, (605) 677-6094, Abby.H.Moore@usd.edu


Bound and Unbound II: Altered Book Exhibition
Attn: Sarah A. Hanson
University Libraries, University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD 57069

Kelly Writers House Book Launch

The Kelly Writers House presents the First Annual Beltran Family Award for Innovative Teaching & Mentoring: 
“I LET A SONG GO OUT OF MY HEART,” a handmade letterpress edition of Sam Allingham’s short story

Join us for a party in honor of the handmade letterpress edition of Sam Allingham's short story "I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart," based on the life of jazz clarinetist Artie Shaw. This artist's book edition, designed and produced by Henry Steinberg at Penn's Robinson Press (an imprint of the The Common Press), celebrates the story's setting and concept through its period-conscious design and construction. This publication was made possible by the 2012 Beltran Family Award For Innovative Teaching & Mentoring Award, whose recipient, Karen Rile, initiated the project to bring together some of the resources within the KWH community into an interdisciplinary literary, creative, and educational adventure.

Details: 

Tuesday, February 19, at 7:00 PM in the Arts Café
Kelly Writers House  3805 Locust Walk on the University of Pennsylvania campus
No registration required -- this event is free & open to the public