Once again Margaret Lock will be running one of her excellent two-day courses on typesetting and letterpress printing the second weekend in April. Two of the three spots have already been filled, so if you are interested, be sure to contact her quickly to nab the final spot. Details of the course are below:
Introduction to Typesetting and Letterpress Printing
taught by Margaret Lock on 10-11 April, 2010 at 231 Johnson Street, Kingston, ON.
Participants will learn basic typographic design concepts, and how to set lead type by hand and print on a Vandercook proof press. The two-day workshop will cover setting type, letter-spacing capitals, distributing type, imposition, proofing, registration, and printing on handmade paper. As an exercise, participants will design and print a broadside up to 11 x 14 inches in size. Participants should bring a short, favourite piece of poetry or prose (fewer than 20 lines of poetry, and fewer than 160 words for a piece of prose).
The cost for each participant is $185. The workshop hours are 9:30am-5:30pm, Saturday and Sunday.
If interested, please contact Margaret Lock by email lockfp@queensu.ca or telephone 613-544-3505.
Well, the move into our new home went quite well with only a few minor hiccups here and there. Although, we can’t really complain as we got lucky with two beautiful days in which we did the majority of of our move (seriously, who moves in the middle of a Canadian February?) A big thanks to all those who helped us move, paint, unpack and generally settle in, we couldn’t have done it without you.
While we have personally settled in for the most part and just await a few final pieces of furniture to finish everything off, the basement still remains a mass of shelving and boxes waiting to be assembled into some semblence of order. Hence, we will not likely have our online stock up for another week or two, but have been able to restock our booth at the Ottawa Antique Market with some fresh finds and stuff tucked away before the move.
Will try to get some pictures of my new office set-up soon and will being posting regularly again shortly.
Well we’ve got ourselves nicely set up and running at the Ottawa Antique Market, which is working out marvelously I might add, and have been busily packing our personal possessions for our big move into our new home this Thursday. With plenty of work to be done over the next week or two to get settled in, the post here will few are far between. So, I thought I would leave you with a few videos from Youtube to entertainment during the hiatus:
A very well produced Letterpress Video of a guy making custom coasters.
A nice collection of short clips of books with fore-edge paintings held by the Boston Public Library.
And of course one of my all time favourite video bios, Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man, of George Whitman, eccentric owner of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. Gotta tip your hat to a guy that still cuts his hair with a candle.
It’s getting close to that time of year again when five books are defended by five panelists to determine which book should be the one Canadians read in 2010. The book selections this year are great with some choice panelists to back them up. The debates will run March 8-12 on CBC Radio One until only one book remains. The books, panelists, podcasts and a host of information on Canada Reads 2010 can be found on the CBC Canada Reads website.
I found out about a month ago that Ottawa’s best stop for mysteries and crime fiction would we closing its doors Friday March 13th, but remained hopeful (hence no post at the time) that current owner Linda Wiken would be able to find a buyer. Unfortunately it looks as though there have been no takers for Prime Crime and the little 300-square-foot will be closing its doors for good after being a mystery lovers haven for nearly 25 years. Be sure to head down there to enjoy one of Ottawa’s finest independent bookstores before the aptly chosen last day on Friday 13th next month.
Lawrence Hill will be reading from his The Book of Negroes at the Museum of Civilization this coming Wednesday (Feb 10th) as part of Black History Month at the museum. Details below and on the Museum of Civilization website.
The new issue of the Devil’s Artisan is out and packed with great articles. In particular there is an excellent article on Frank Newfield (award winning designer of more than 650 books) followed by an article written by Newfield on the use and responsibilities of book illustrations. There are also three in-depth reviews of last falls published books written by Jim Rimmer, Wesley Bates and Robert Bringhurst. You can find copies of this great journal at a local magazine speciality shop (i.e. Mags & Fags) or subscribe here.
With our move only a couple weeks away, the last thing I should be doing is acquiring more printing equipment. However, this fun little Edison Rotary Mimeograph from 1904 was too good to pass up (loads of info on the Edison Mimeograph and other historical copying machines available here). In fact, I got it by trading a box of 1950’s Popular Mechanics to another dealer down at the Antique Market. Ahhh, the good old barter system at its finest.
While it needs a little cleaning up, it is fully functional and will be put to the test in my new print shop at the new house. What’s even better, while looking up the history of my newly acquired prize I found this company, Repeat-O-Type, in the U.S. that still sells the stencils and inks for mimeographs. And here I was expecting to have to scrounge around for some supplies!
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