I recently had the chance to spend the day visiting the Cary Graphic Arts Collection housed at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Located in the western New York city of Rochester, the Cary Graphics Arts Collection is one of the country's finest special collections libraries focusing on graphic arts. With over 40,000 volumes and an impressive collection of personal papers, I had a hard time fitting everything I wanted to see in one day.
Read moreEgyptian Border
The Wells College Book Arts Center has a pretty amazing collection of type. As a student in their Wells Summer Institute program it was a real joy to see and work with such rare type. One of the jewels in their collection is a complete Egyptian Border designed by Herman Ihlenburg for MacKellar, Smiths, & Jordan, circa 1881. This style of border was short lived, only produced for about a decade, making it very rare today.
Read moreThe Thorniley Collection
The Thorniley Collection is an amazing collection of antique wood and metal type and printing equipment collected by Bill Thorniley during the middle of the twentieth century. The collection is now owned by WCP Solutions, formerly West Coast Paper.
Located off the lobby of an industrial building in Kent Washington, visits to the collection are by appointment only. I had the privilege of accompanying fellow printer, and friend of the Thorniley Collection, Carl Montford. What follows is just a sample of what is on display.
Read more