User:Baldwinn/draft APHA

The American Printing History Association (APHA) was founded in 1974 to encourage the study of the history of printing and related arts and crafts, including calligraphy, typefounding, typography, papermaking, bookbinding, illustration, and publishing. The founding committee included Lieberman abd Terry Belanger, Catherine Tyler Brody, Stuart Dobson, Joseph Dunlap, Philip Gruskin, Elizabeth M. Harris, Herbert Johnson, Dr Robert L. Leslie, Paul Noble, Jean Peters, Stephen O. Saxe, Martin K. Speckter, and Susan Otis Thompson.

Publications
Printing History, the twice-annual journal of APHA, was founded in 1979. It publishes scholarly articles on the history of printing, publishing, books, type, typography, paper and related industries. Its editors have included Susan Otis Thompson, Irene Tichenor, Renée Weber, and David Pankow. The first 50 issues of the journal constitute the original series; the New Series began in 2007 under the editorship of William S. Peterson.

The APHA Newsletter, appearing four times a year, features news of upcoming APHA events, reports of the activities of the national chapters, and other items of interest to printing historians. Until Number 171 (summer 2009), the newsletter was a print publication, distributed by mail to all members of APHA. Starting with Number 172 (fall 2009) the newsletter became available online in downloadable PDF format. Back issues are available online to the year 2000.

APHA occasionally publishes books of typographic and bibliographical interest, for example the 2006 Verse into Type: The APHA Poetry Portfolio, to which 14 well-known letterpress printers contributed broadsides containing a poem of their choice, using a wide variety of typefaces, type designs, colors, formats, and papers.

Chapters
The parent organization is supported by regional chapters.

Activities
Annual meeting: The annual meeting of the organization is held each year on the fourth Saturday in January in New York City, in the South Court Auditorium of the New York Public Library's 42nd Street building. APHA's two annual awards are presented on this occasion.

Annual conference: The first annual APHA conference was held at Columbia University in October, 1976. In the early years the annual conference was always held in New York City, but since the mid 1980s the organization has sought venues further afield. Conferences typically consist of a day or two of formal papers, presentations, and panels combined with tours of local collections, studios and other spots of interest to historians of printing.

Awards
In 1976, APHA established an annual award to be presented "for a distinguished contribution to the study, recording, preservation or dissemination of printing history, in any specific area or in general terms." At first only individuals were eligible, but in 1985 a second award was established for institutional achievement. The awards are presented each January at the APHA Annual Meeting in New York City. Notable individual laureates include John Dreyfus, Sandra Kirshenbaum, Alexander Lawson, and Rollo G. Silver. Among the institutional laureates are the American Antiquarian Society and the St Bride Library, London.

Mark Samuels Lasner award