FAU to Host Annual Letterpress Appreciation Day Celebration
The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts at FAU will celebrate Letterpress Appreciation Day with an open house on Sunday, Sept. 18, and on Monday, Sept. 19, from noon to 5 p.m. each day.
John Cutrone at the Wesel Iron Handpress at the Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts at Florida Atlantic University’s Wimberly Library.
The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts at Florida Atlantic University will celebrate Letterpress Appreciation Day with an open house on Sunday, Sept. 18, and on Monday, Sept. 19, from noon to 5 p.m. each day. The Jaffe Center is at the Wimberly Library, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. Both events are free and open to the public.
From the mid-15th to the 19th century, letterpress was the normal form of printing text and remained in wide use for books and other materials until the second half of the 20th century. All the type and images printed on these presses must have one precise height measurement of 0.918 inches. This is what makes Sept. 18 Letterpress Appreciation Day, said John Cutrone, the Jaffe Center’s director.
This is the seventh annual celebration of letterpress printing for the Jaffe Center. Each year, the celebrations draw more and more students to the Wimberly Library. In hosting the event over two days, the Jaffe Center hopes to entice more community participation.
“Today’s renewed interest in letterpress printing is part of the growing wave of interest in traditional crafts and the burgeoning maker movement,” said Cutrone.
During the open house, visitors will be introduced to the print aspects of the Jaffe Center, which is home to historic relief presses that are used by students and artists to create hand-printed books and literary broadsides. Guests can tour the shop, print a souvenir poster on the 1890 Wesel Iron Handpress.
Letterpress Appreciation Day is sponsored by FAU Libraries and Convivio Bookworks, a Lake Worth studio that specializes in letterpress-printed books and broadsides. Handmade prints, cards and postcards will be sold and a portion of each item will benefit the Jaffe Center. Donations to the nonprofit Jaffe Center are encouraged. Cash, checks and major credit cards are accepted for donations and purchases.
Visitor parking is available at the metered spaces in the Wimberly Library’s parking lot. For more information, visit Letterpress Appreciation Day.
-FAU-
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