Note: This is just my own personal page with information about this Conference. It is not officially affiliated with the ATF; I'm merely a member of this group.
The 2016 Conference of the American Typecasting Fellowship was held in several locations in the "Finger Lakes" region of New York state. It was co-hosted by Richard Kegler and the Wells College (Aurora, NY) Book Arts Center (see also their blog), the Press & Letterfoundry of Michael and Winifred Bixler (Skaneateles, NY), the Cary Graphic Arts Collection of the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Geri McCormick and Virgin Wood Type (Rochester, NY). It was the 20th biennial conference of the group. There were 56 registered participants listed on the final revision of the program.
The "Site Committee" organizing it consisted of:
In addition to their official page for the Conference, the Wells Book Arts Center put together a Facebook page for the ATF and the Conference. It has been updated with numerous photographs from the Conference (including the group photo taken after the Saturday Banquet). See: https://www.facebook.com/ATypeF/
Stumptown Printers (Portland, OR; represented at the Conference by Rebecca Gilbert) has a good blog posting about the event.
Here's the final version of the program (less two pages listing the attendees and their contact information, out of regard for their privacy). My thanks to Rich Kegler for his permission to include it here.
Arrival was Wednesday (August 10); the conference hotel was in Auburn, NY (centrally located with regard to Skaneateles and Aurora).
On Thursday (August 11) there were several partially overlapping events:
In the evening we met informally at the conference hotel in Auburn.
Friday was spent at Well College, and included the presentations, the swap meet, the auction, and a tour of some of the Victor Hammer material at the Wells College library.
Saturday was held at the Bixlers' Letterfoundry in Skaneateles (which, I'm told, is pronounced something like "skinny atlas" - but I never could get it right). This included a presentation by Michael and Winifred Bixler on the history of their press and foundry, presentations by the Swedish punchcutter Richard Årlin and the Texan typefounder Bradley Hutchinson, and impromptu technical sessions centered around the Super Caster.
The departure day, Sunday, included tours of Virgin Wood Type (for those who couldn't make it there on Thursday) and, I think, another open house at the Bixlers' (but I wasn't there for that).
What most participants in the Conference didn't see was the work that Richard Kegler put into organizing the two-week long Wells Book Arts Summer Institute just two/three weeks before the ATF Conference. (This Summer Institute included both training sessions at the Bixlers' Letterfoundry and a week-long class in Punchcutting by Stan Nelson.) Taken together, the Summer Institute and the ATF Conference represent an astonishing amount of work on his part - all well done.
1. At Wells College, Friday August 12:
Gregory Jackson Walters (Piqua, OH). "Latest Developments in Casting Large Type."
Greg described casting a 144 point Eagle ornament on the ex-American Type Founders "Giant Pivotal" caster.
Ed Rayher ( Swamp Press, Northfield, MA). "An Archaeology of Type."
Ed discussed several aspects of his new work, including engraving the matrices for, and casting, Russell Maret's face Baker, engraving matrices for metal type realizations of the Klilik "asemic writing" script of Barbara Henry, and recutting the Doves Types as Monotype Composition Caster large composition matrices.
David M. MacMillan (Circuitous Root, Mineral Point, WI). "The Nuernberger-Rettig Type-Maker: History, Mechanics, Future."
Here is a PDF of the presentation in the form that it was given, embarassing typo on the final slide and all: nr-atf-2016-rev06.pdf
Bob Magill (Sterling Type Foundry and Monumental Press, Union, MO). "Dingbats and Ornaments: Is there a Future for Sterling Type Foudnry?"
Bog answered his own question: of course there is. He acquired Sterling Type Foundry after the unexpected passing of David C. Churchman and is integrating it with his own Monumental Type Foundry. He'll continue his typecasting operations under the Sterling T.F. name while printing as Monumental Press.
R. Stanley Nelson (Atelier Press and Letter Foundry, Charles Town, WV). "Sorting Oneself Out, the Great 'Tugalong,' A Fan of Heavy Metal, or Pulling One's Weight; or Exploring the Fine Art of Shoehorning Too Much Stuff into Too Little Space."
William Welliver ( The Chestnut Press and Type Foundry, Wapwallopen, PA). "A Retro Approach to Automated Type Casting."
A fascinating presentation on a forgotten subject: (English) Monotype's responses to phototypesetting and electronics. Also, his joint effort with Patrick Goossens to rework equipment of this era.
In a gesture of solidarity among computer programmers, Bill altered his final slide to include the same typo as mine. Thanks.
Patrick Goossens ( Letter-kunde Press, Antwerp, Belgium). "Saving the Dale Guild Typefounding Artifacts from Dispersion: A Story of Distance in Time and Space."
How the materials of the Dale Guild made their way to Antwerp and remain intact. Patrick also screened Micah Currier's short film Disciplines and Protocols.
2. At the Press & Letterfoundry of Michael and Winifred Bixler, Saturday August 13:
Michael and Winifred Bixler. "The Who, What, Where and Why of the Bixler Letterfoundry."
How one of the world's finest Monotype composition shops and presses came to be.
Richard Årlin (Stigbergets Stamp och Press, Stockholm, Sweden).
Richard discussed his methods of cutting punches (and displayed a fixture for driving punches with a press) and discussed and exhibited examples of his work over the years. Very impressive. He also has a Youtube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgDUAPFXSP9hNJPJytQ_61Q (or search Youtube for "stampoch press").
Bradley Hutchinson ( Letterpress.com, Austin, TX).
Bradley discussed his current projects, including casting Victor Hammer's Andromaque on the Thompson from matrices electroformed by Andy Dunker for Paul Hayden Duensing.
It is traditional, although by no means required, for participants in the Conference to provide keepsakes for their colleagues. Ususally these are printed items (though in the past they have included objects such as cast types). Here is a list of the keepsakes presented at the 2014 ATF Conference.
Dimensions are approximate and in inches (rounded); width x height.
Michael Bixler. [Monotype Composition Caster Mold Gasket.] 3 1/2 x 4 1/4. Die-cut typan paper.
Although strictly speaking it was not an official keepsake, Michael Bixler kindly allowed us to have examples of the Monotype composition caster mold gaskets than he die-cuts from tympan paper.
Mold gaskets were quite popular at the Conference; see also the packet of Monotype Composition Caster Mold Gaskets from the C. C. Stern Type Foundry, below .
Jason Dewinetz ( Greenboathouse Press, Vernon, BC). "Meditations." 8 1/16 x 11 3/8
"Set in Paul Hayden Duensing's 16th-Century Chancery Italic, possibly the most pain-in-the-ass type ever cut in metal, ..."
Amelia Fontanel / R.I.T. "The Scriptorium, 1936" (Type picture by Albert Schiller). 10x15.
Amelia notes that this piece was printed from the original type form set by Schiller in 1936. It survives as a standing form and is a part of the Cary Graphic Arts Collection. For more on the Schiller Archive at the Cary, see: http://library.rit.edu/cary/exhibitions/albert-schiller-genius-type-ornaments
Patrick Goossens ( Letter-kunde Press, Antwerp, Belgium). [Shakespeare's Sonnet 55 ("Not marble, nor the gilded monuments / Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme") in Dutch ("Geen marmerbeeld, geen vorst'lijk grafgesteeni', / Dan dit mijn machtig lofdicht overleeft.")] 21 x 30.
Sonnet 55, translated into Dutch, overprinted in large type in red on a background of all of the sonnets, all in Dutch, printed in black in 6 pt. Garamond as composed on an Intertype C-4. Composed and printed as a part of an international project to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare in 2016.
Gary Gregory ( The Printing Office of Edes & Gill, Boston, MA). "The True-born Sons of Liberty..." 8 3/4 x 6 1/4.
Re-creation of an announcemnt of the 1765 resignation of Andrew Oliver, Distributor of Stamps for the Province of Massachusetts-Bay.
Richard L. Hopkins (Hill & Dale Private Press and Typefoundry, Terra Alta, WV). "An Excuse to Show Off Some Borders." 7 1/2 x 10 1/4.
With an account of extensive debugging, disassembly - and reassembly - work on the Monotype Composition Caster.
Richard L. Hopkins (Hill & Dale Private Press and Typefoundry, Terra Alta, WV). "Ornamente Antiqua." 6 3/4 x 8 1/2.
A showing of ornaments and tyepcast cuts cast by Hopkins on the Lanston Monotype-Thompson and the (English) Monotype Super Caster from non-Monotype matrices. This type is available for sale.
Tim Holter (Press Eremus, Oakdale, MN). "Hanc ianuam clave imaginationis reseras." [Two quotations from The Twilight Zone translated into Latin by Aaron Richardson.] 8 1/2 x 11.
Set in 36 and 18 pt. Engravers Old English and Intertype-cast 10 and 8 pt. Trade Gothic.
Bradley Hutchinson ( Letterpress.com, Austin, TX). "A Specimen of the Type Known as Andromaque." 6 1/4 x 9 1/2.
A showing and specimen of Victor Hammer's Andromaque, set in type cast on the Thompson by Hutchinson from matrices electroformed by Andrew Dunker from the 1959 Deberny and Peignot casting.
Bradley Hutchinson ( Letterpress.com, Austin, TX). "Stanzas Composed and Performed by Messer Pietro Bembo." 5 x 7 3/4, tri-fold.
Set in Blado and Poliphilus. Printed for Matrix No. 33.
These two pieces were not distributed with the other keepsakes, but were given out at Hutchinson's presentation on Saturday.
Darrell Hyder (Sun Hill Press, N. Brookfield, MA). "Are You Typecast Alphabetically?" 6 x 9, folded.
Chad Jones (Colonial Williamsburg) with Raymond Stanley Nelson (Atelier Press and Letterfoundry, Charles Town, WV). "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union..." 6 3/16 x 7.
Re-created in hand-set Caslon by Colonial Williamsburg, with ornaments re-cut by Stan Nelson.
Richard Kegler ( P22 Type Foundry). "Italian Oldstyle Thirty-Six Point." 8 1/2 x 11.
Showing of the P22 digital face "LTC Italian Old Style Pro" under their "Lanston Type Company" imprint.
Richard Kegler ( P22 Type Foundry). Making Faces. DVD.
Richard also gave DVD copies of his film Making Faces on the life and work of the late Jim Rimmer.
Richard Kegler. Jim Rimmer. "Droppings from the Pie Tree." [Showings of 60, 36, 24, 18 and 14 pt. Duensing Titling, cut by Rimmer, and a 14 pt trial cutting, by Rimmer, of Carl Dair's Cartier.] 11 x 14 1/2.
The late Jim Rimmer (Pie Tree Press, New Westminster, BC) printed this showing in silver on black tissue paper for the Type Club of Toronto. This reprint of it was done in black ink on regular paper by Coach House Books (Toronto). It was distributed as a keepsake by Rich Kegler. My thanks to Jason Dewinetz (who acquired most of Rimmer's equipment) for bibliographic details about this piece.
Note that this is also evidence that Dair's face Cartier was cut in metal (though not released). The excellent recent book on/by Dair, Epistles to the Torontonians (Toronto, Ontario and New Castle, DE: Coach House Press with Sheridan Collegte and Oak Knoll Press, 2015) is in error in this regard.
John Kristensen ( Firefly Press, Boston, MA). "Landscape" [composed of printer's flowers and ornaments] 12 1/2 x 13. Green ink.
Robert LoMascolo ( The Press of Robert LoMascolo, Union Springs, NY). Shakespeare's Sonnet 117 ("Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all"). 13x19.
Printed in Baskerville newly cast by the Letter Foundry of Michael and Winifred Bixler. With a four-color illustration printed letterpress, inspired by Elizabethan embroidery but featuring flora and fauna of the Finger Lakes region of NY.
Geri McCormick ( Virgin Wood Type, Rochester, NY). [Introduction card for Chromatic Ornate in wood type.] 3 7/8 x 9.
Jesse Marsolais (Marsolais Press & Lettercarving, Millbury, MA). "One Printer's Priorities." 3 3/8 x 5 3/8, four-page fanfold.
Set in Jessen Schrift (Rudolph Koch) with a reproduction of a woodcut by Fritz Kredel.
Mark Sarigianis ( The Prototype Press). "A Tribute to Cowboy Printer David Joseph Johnston."
David Johnston passed away suddenly, at a young age, in 2015.
Jessie Reich ( 3 Ton Bridge Press). " Announcing the Chicago Collection" [card announcing metal type ornaments cast] 5 1/2 x 4 1/8.
This is a collaborative project between the type designer, Jen Farrell of Starshaped Press in Chicago, the type founder, Jessie Reich of 3 Ton Bridge Press (working at the Press & Letterfoundry of Michael and Winifred Bixler in Skaneateles, NY), and the matrix maker, Ed Rayher of Swamp Press in Northfield, MA.
Andrew Steeves ( Gaspereau Press, Kentville, NS). "The Future of Agriculture: An Essay by Wendell Berry." 11x19. Three color.
Steeves was, at the last minute, unable to attend the Conference. His keepsake was distributed by Rich Kegler on his behalf.
C. C. Stern Type Foundry (Portland, OR. Done by all of the principals of the Foundry; Rebecca Gilbert and Chris Chen were at the Conference representing them.) [Packet of Monotype Composition Caster mold gaskets]
See also the mold gaskets by Michael Bixler, above.
Gregory Jackson Walters. [Showing of 144 point Stymie Inline Titling, cast by him from ATF matrices with all three variations of 'A'] 14 7/8 x 19 7/8. Printed in blue.
Most keepsakes bore identifying information, but a few did not (and in some cases they were identified by the printer but not the contributor at the Conference). I do not know who contributed the following items:
Gene Gates and Lawrence Peterson (Nine-18-Thousandths Press, Henderson, NV).
Neither Lawrence nor Gene were at the Conference, so I'm not sure who gave these keepsakes.
Dr. David M. MacMillan (CircuitousRoot) failed once again to provide a keepsake. He hopes that this bibliography will in part compensate for this.
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