In This Issue:

Meet the new DVC officers Annual Meeting March 21 A special thanks to Denise Carbone CODEX Book Fair

Pressing Matter
Spring, 2007 Number 1 The Publication of the Deleware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers

AreA hAPPenings
Seminar in American Bookbinding History
Friday, March 9, 2007 9:00 AM 4:30 PM Music Room, Goodhart Hall, Bryn Mawr College Registration fee: $40; Student registration: $10. Registration fees include lunch. Deadline for registration: March 5, 2007.

The Bryn Mawr College Library is sponsoring a one-day seminar to stimulate research in the history of bookbinding in America by reporting on current studies, identifying gaps in our knowledge of the field, and proposing promising areas of research. The seminar will be moderated by Jim Green, Librarian of The Library Company of Philadelphia, and will feature presentations by 10 scholars on aspects of the nineteenth-century American and Canadian bookbinding trades. Presentations will be followed by discussion and sharing of ideas among all attendees. This event is being held in connection with the Librarys exhibition, Bound and Determined: Identifying American Bookbindings, on display from January 30 to June 3, 2007. For more information: www.brynmawr.edu/library/bindingseminar.shtml

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Yale Arts of the Book Collection and the Whitney Humanties Center invite you to participate in At the Turn of the Centuries: The Influence of Early 20th Century Book Arts on Contemporary Artists Books, a symposium to be held on April 13, 2007, on the campus of Yale University. Registration is free, but required for planning purposes. Space for the afternoon breakout working groups is very limited, thus registration is mandatory for these sessions. The deadline for registration is Monday, April 2, 2007. For more information visit: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/centuries/index.htm
New Chapter Officers from left to right: Jennifer Woods Rosner, President; Hedi Kyle, Program Director; Alice Austin, Secretary/Treasurer; Sharon Hildebrand, Newsletter Editor

Delaware Valley Chapter Guild of Book Workers c/o The McLean Conservation Department The Library Company of Philadelphia 1314 Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19107

From the President

I am excited about the opportunity to serve as President of the Delaware Valley Chapter (DVC) of the Guild of Book Workers for the next two years. I was very impressed by the level of participation in our election. Approximately 50% of our members sent in both their nominations and votes. So, I know that you are out there and that you are interested in our chapter. This brings me to my first goal: I want to see more of you! I am going to try to organize more events that will bring us all together. Recently, it was brought to my attention that the Guild of Book Workers is primarily a social organization. I want to fulfill the Guilds mission of establishing and maintaining a feeling of kinship and mutual interest among our members. Secondly, I want to see our tiny chapter grow. We are the smallest chapter with 28 members currently. I believe at one time we had about 40 members. We will be putting together a survey to find out what people want from the Chapter. I also plan to send our first newsletter this year to local GBW members who are not Chapter members as an enticement to join. Our first gathering the Annual Meeting is in March. I am hoping to gather some your opinions and ideas then. I look forward to seeing you and hearing your ideas and comments. Jennifer Woods Rosner

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A note From denise

One last note as chair: I would like to thank everyone who supported me in every way during my time as Chapter Chair. I met inventive people and made great friends. And bookbinders are a jolly bunch. I am excited for the chapter. Jennifer and her entourage are already on their way. And Im not going anywhere. Thanks, Denise

meet the new delAwAre VAlley chAPter oFFicers

Jennifer

Rosner brings more that 25 years of experience to her position as the Chief of Conservation at The Library Company of Philadelphia, where she is responsible for overseeing the conservation and preservation of approximately 500,000 books and 50,000 prints and photographs. In addition to her responsibilities at the Library Company, Jennifer was also was a lecturer on bookbinding at University of the Arts for more than a decade. Her publications include the article Pre-Ornamented Bookcloth on Nineteenth Century Cloth Case Bindings, which she co-authored with fellow conservator Andrea Krupp and was published in The Papers of the Bibliographical Society. Jennifer has also assisted with curating two exhibitions, Making a Case for Cloth: Publishers Cloth Case Bindings 1830 -1900 and Hidden Treasures: Decorated Papers.

Hedi Kyle is Conservator Emeritus

of the American Philosophical Society and Adjunct Professor at the University of the Arts, both in Philadelphia. At the University she teaches book structures to MFA students of the Graduate Program in Book Arts and Printmaking. Hedi Kyle graduated from the Werk-Kunst Schule in Wiesbaden, Germany. After a brief career as a graphic designer, her interest turned to book arts and book conservation. Her one-of-a-kind constructions have been exhibited internationally, and are in private and public collections. She is co-founder of Paper and Book Intensive (PBI), and has given workshops in the U.S., Canada, and Switzerland for the past twenty years.

AnnuAl meeting scheduled For mArch 21, 2007

Please join us for our annual meeting on Wednesday March 21, 2007 at 5:00 in the evening at the Library Company, 1314 Locust Street, in Philadelphia. This meeting is a chance for us to get to know each other better through conversation and presentation. We ask that everyone bring an example of their work to share with the group. We also encourage you to invite a friend who might be interested in joining our group. Wine and cheese will be served, and a short business meeting will be held. Hope to see you there! RSVP by March 19: bindery@librarycompany.org or 215-546-3181

The CODEX Foundation International Book Fair

The Codex Foundation produced the first biennial CODEX Book Fair and a Symposium entitled: The Fate of the Art, The Hand Printed Book in the 21st Century. The Book Fair and Symposium took place February 12, 13, 14, & 15, 2007 on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. I was able to attend the book fair on the 14th and 15th. The fair featured handpress printers and fine art presses and included booksellers, bookbinders, papermakers, bibliophile organizations, and educational programs in the book arts. The number of wonderful books was impressive and I am glad I had two afternoons to enjoy the variety of books. It was great to see the work of the international artists since we dont often have that opportunity. I was happy to buy the trade edition of Gaylord Schanilacs new book Mayflies of the Driftless Region. For only $85 you can own all his beautiful woodcuts - this is an edition of 1000 that he printed from the type and blocks used for the fine press edition(midnightpapersales.com). The San Francisco Bay Areas libraries, book-arts & bibliophilic organizations hosted events, exhibits and receptions during the week. I attended the opening Wednesday night at the San Francisco Center for the Book of a show titled Buch Kunst - Book Art from the Hamburg Archives. It was full of more books well worth seeing. There is so much to enjoy in the Bay area. I hope that in two years I will attend another fair in Berkeley! Alice Austin

A Book Conservator for

After attending the Oregon College

The Library Company of Philadelphia, Alice Austin combines her knowledge of bookbinding with her interest in unusual book forms. She creates artist books that often function without words, using a sculptural approach to surprise and delight the viewer. A rich tapestry of color and texture make for complex, yet simply appealing artwork. Alices books have been exhibited internationally and are in both public and private collections.

of Art and Craft, Sharon Hildebrand moved to Philadelphia where she worked in the conservation department at the Library of The American Philosophical Society. Since then, Sharon has worked in book and paper conservation at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Library Company of Philadelphia. Currently, Sharon is the Conservator for the Brandywine River Museum, and through her small business, Hildebrand Book Arts, Sharon offers services in conservation, box making, and small edition binding. In addition, she teaches classes in book arts at Fleisher Art Memorial and in her studio.

A special thank you...

to Denise Carbone for her many years of service as our chapter president. Denise volunteered her time and energy to keep our small chapter alive and well. Thanks to Denises efforts our members benefited from numerous workshops, lectures, fieldtrips, and social events. We look forward to Denises continued participation in chapter activities. Great job DC, and thank you!