American Historical Print Collectors Society

AHPCS News Letter Archive

The AHPCS News Letter provides information about events and meetings, exhibitions, articles, interviews, and other matters of interest to collectors. Print issues are mailed to members quarterly. This online archive contains issues from 2011 to the present.

Volume 47

Spring 2023 (Number 4)

Content:  This 4-page issue includes plans for the 2024 annual meeting in Williamstown, MA; a letter from President Allen Bernard; a proposed change to the Society’s statement of purpose; recaps of regional meetings in Haverhill, MA, and at the Boston Athenaeum; and notices of an upcoming regional meeting at the Weir Farm and a new book of note. View issue as a PDF

 

 

 

Winter 2023 (Number 3)

Content: This 12-page issue includes information about the 2023 AHPCS annual meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and upcoming regional meetings at the Boston Athenaeum, the Museum of Printing, and Historic New England. The issue features articles on “Lilly Martin Spencer’s Bo-Peep in Prints & Photographs” by James S. Brust; two contributions in the “My Favorite Print” series for “The Great Blue Heron” by Nancy Finlay and the “Noël Le Mire engraving of George Washington” by Clayton Lewis; and a recap of the work of Peter Cohen, who received an AHPCS Shadwell Fellowship grant to study James McNeill Whistler and his contemporaries at the Krannert Art Museum. There is also a letter from President Allen Bernard; a recap of the November 14th regional meeting at the American Antiquarian Society. View issue as a PDF

 

 

Fall 2022 (Number 2)

Content: This 16-page issue features the articles “America’s Most Influential Journalist: The Life, Times and Legacy of Thomas Nast” by John Adler, “Latent Elements in Prints” by Robert D. Peterson, “USPS Christmas Stamps After Nathaniel Currier and Louis Prang” by James S. Brust, and “The Philadelphia Print Shop Turns 40” by David Mackey, as well as a letter from President Allen Bernard, an In Memoriam for member Virginius C. Hall, a notice about “Artists Making New Artworks at Sites of Picturesque America Prints” by Sue Rainey, notes on regional meetings in New England, and news about the 2023 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. View issue as a PDF

 

Summer 2022 (Number 1)

Content: This 4-page issue includes recaps of the AHPCS Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, and a regional meeting in Mystic Seaport, CT; a letter from president Allen Bernard; a note about Chris Lane closing the Philadelphia Print Shop West; a notice about an upcoming regional meeting at the Clark Art Institute; and the tentative schedule for the 2023 annual meeting in Philadelphia, PA. View issue as a PDF

 

 

 

Volume 46

Spring 2022 (Number 4)

Content: This 4-page issue contains information about the AHPCS annual meeting in Denver, Colorado; a letter from president Allen Bernard; the proposed slate for the 2022-23 board of directors and officers; and regional meeting news. View issue as a PDF

 

 

 

 

Winter 2022 (Number 3)

Content: This 8-page issue features information about the AHPCS 2022 Annual Meeting in Denver and a regional meeting in Fairfield, Connecticut; a letter from President Allen Bernard; position announcements for an AHPCS Website Administrator and Imprint Books Review Editor; and a remembrance of Donald Bruckner by John Zak. View issue asa PDF

 

 

 

 

Fall 2021 (Number 2)

Content: This 8-page issue features the article “A Cincinnati Porcelain Card Print … Printed in Belgium” by Virginius C. Hall, the itinerary for the AHPCS annual meeting in Denver, May 19-21, 2022, and a letter from AHPCS president Allen Bernard. Additional content includes a recap of an October 2nd AHPCS regional meeting at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and notes about a new exhibition, “Imperfect History,” at the Library Company, a new digital publication Charles A. Platt: A Guide to his Graphic Art, and a new AHPCS Fellowship and Internship Program opportunity. View issue as a PDF

 

 

Summer 2021 (Number 1)

Content: This 8-page issue features an article “The Grand Experiment in Italy: Prints by Duveneck and His Students” by Kristin Spangenberg about Ohio artist Frank Duveneck and a letter from newly elected AHPCS President Allen Bernard. Additional content includes information about the upcoming meeting in Mystic, Conn., a save-the-date for the annual meeting in Denver (May 19-21, 2022); a request for historical papers about AHPCS, and a display of images from a toy panorama of Civil War scenes, The Myriopticon, published by Milton Bradley & Co. View issue as a PDF

 

Volume 45

Spring 2021 (Number 4)

Content:This 8-page issue features the program and registration form for the 2021 Fall Meeting in Mystic, Connecticut; an interview with Caroline Sloat, the incoming Imprint editor; and a feature article: “AHPCS Helps Further the Study of ‘The Past and the Future'” by James Brust. Additional content includes the proposed slate for the incoming 2021-2022 Board of Directors and Officers, an In Memoriam for William H. Huntington (1929-2020) from John Zak, and a political print and description submitted by member John Adler of an image by Thomas Nast in the March 16, 1861, New York Illustrated News of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney administering the oath of office to Abraham Lincoln. View issue as a PDF

 

Winter 2021 (Number 3)

Content: This 8-page issue features two articles: “Audubon’s Birds, Adapted” by Jackie Penny and “Hand Tinted Civil War Allegorical, Patriotic, and Mourning CDVs” by James Brust. Additional content includes an In Memoriam for Marcia Greenbaum by Robert Newman, an update and call for papers for the AHPCS 2021 Annual meeting in Mystic, CT, an invitation to view Inauguration Prints, and information about the alma mater gift membership contest.View issue as a PDF

 

 

 

Fall 2020 (Number 2)

Content: This 8-page issue features two articles: “The Spirit of ’76: How an Enterprising Photographer Used an Inexpensive Chromolithograph to Turn a Virtually Unknown Painting into an Icon of American Culture” by James S. Brust about the work of artist Archibald Willard (1836-1918) published by James F. Ryder (1826-1904), notably the patriotic “Yankee Doodle 1776” (or “The Spirit of ’76”), and “Benedict Arnold, Printseller” by Nancy Finlay. Additional content includes: “What Should We Do With This Art: Further guidance for collectors”; a call for prints depicting the Pilgrims journey on the Mayflower 400 years ago; notices about the online exhibit “Portraits of Place: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints of New Jersey” from the Morven Museum, Shadwell Conservation Grant opportunities, and the cancelation of the 2021 Louisville meeting. There is also an In Memoriam of AHPCS board member Michael McKenzie by Clayton Lewis. View issue as a PDF

 

Summer 2020 (Number 1)

Summer 2020 NewsletterContent: This 8-page issue includes: “Connecting and collecting in COVID-19”; “Reality Check” by AHPCS president Nancy Finlay; “The AHPCS News Letter and International Art History Research” by James S. Brust about research related to an engraving by Francis Holl of Margaret Gillies’ The Past and the Future; “Using Online Prowess for Sharing and Collecting during the Coronavirus” with tips from AHPCS board member Michael Buehler; “Lowering the Curtain on the Currier & Ives Darktown Prints” by Chris Lane; “Curating During the 2019 Novel Coronavirus” with insights from curators Stephanie Delamaire and Sarah Weatherwax; and an In Memoriam for historian Martin Schneider (died 2020). View issue as a PDF

 

Volume 44

Spring 2020 (Number 4)

Content: This 8-page issue includes two feature articles: “Inside the Empty Sleeve” by James Brust on the transformations of an image of a Civil War amputee and “Historic Prints as Diagnostic Tools During a Pandemic” by Jackie Penny. In addition, there is news about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on AHPCS, including the postponement of the Louisville annual meeting until 2021; the slate of AHPCS officers and board of directors for 2020-2021; a list of great history images that can be viewed online; a query about William Rimmer lithographs; and a closer look at the 1820 print: “A case of infectious fever from “84 South Street, 4 doors from Callowhill Street,” Philadelphia before the New York Board of Health.” View issue as a PDF

 

Winter 2020 (Number 3)

Content: This 8-page issue features the program and registration form for the 2020 Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky; “Rehoming Prints from the Walls of Our Home” by Linda Roberts accompanied by listings of prints and print-related books of Kenneth Roberts available for sale; and the article “Do you have your election game face on?” by Jackie Penny about campaign prints during the 1872 presidential election. Additional items include exhibitions of note; recaps of AHPCS regional meetings at the Winterthur Museum (September 27, 2019) and of the Paul Revere exhibit at the New-York Historical Society (October 26, 2019). View issue as a PDF

 

 

Fall 2019 (Number 2)

Content:This 20-page issue contains two feature articles: “Raphael’s Hours” by James Brust and “Civil War Popular Print Album” by Chris Lane. In addition, there is a note of fellowships provided by other institutions and organizations; an interview with the 2019 AHPCS Fellow, Mark Kelley, Assistant Professor of English at Florida International University; a recap of the September regional meeting at the Fogg Museum at Harvard University; notices of ongoing exhibitions including one on Fanny Palmer at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Massachusetts; and Jim Brust’s recollections of the auction of Estelle Doheny’s Currier & Ives prints in 1988. View issue as a PDF

 

Summer 2019 (Number 1)

Content: This 8-page issue contains two featured articles: “I am Done Collecting—Now What?” by Leah C. Tharpe and “Letter concerning the first American lithograph uncovered” by Philip Weimerskirch about a letter by Thomas Cooper regarding an Otis Bass lithograph published in the July 1819 issue of Analectic Magazine. Also included are a recap and photographs of the annual meeting in Providence; notices of upcoming exhibitions at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, OH, and the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, MA; calls for papers for the upcoming annual meeting and for Shadwell Conservation grant proposals; save-the-dates for the Fall 2019 AHPCS regional meetings at the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, the Winterthur Museum, and the New-York Historical Society and the 2020 annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky; a notice that Diann Benti is the new AHPCS website editor; and a Newman book award announcement. View issue as a PDF

Volume 43

Spring 2019 (Number 4)

Content: This 4-page issue includes a feature called “Using Historic Prints as a Balm: institutions respond to the Notre Dame Fire,” which briefly examines Instagram posts from 10 AHPCS member institutions. Also included is a recap of a regional meeting at the Autry Museum, a recap of the King Library and William McGuffey Museum at Miami University, another call for proposals for the Shadwell Conservation grant, Regional Meetings Save-the-Dates, New Book of Note to Members (American Eagle by Preston Cook), New Resource of Note (Fitz Henry Lane Online) and position announcement for a website editor. View issue as a PDF

 

 

Winter 2019 (Number 3)

Content: This 8-page issue includes a notice about proposed changes to the by-laws, the program and registration form for the 2019 Annual Meeting in Providence, an interview with the most current AHPCS fellow, a message from our president, Nancy Finlay, a recap of the Cincinnati regional meeting, announcement of Shadwell conservation grant deadline, upcoming regional meeting in Miami, new resources of note to members, article “A Perplexing Etching Plate by Peter Moran” by David Wright, notice for the position of AHPCS website editor. View issue as a PDF

 

 

Fall 2018 (Number 2)

Content: This 8-page issue included features on a web resource on historical printing presses; recap on September 28th regional meeting in Philadelphia; save the date for the annual meeting in Providence; additional notice on the Fanny Palmer text published by Syracuse UP, an article by Jim Brust “Fanny Palmer at the Battle of the Rosebud” – the issue is also a report with visual statistics generated and compiled by Jourdan Houston based on her spring member survey. View issue as a PDF

 

 

Summer 2018 (Number 1)

Content: This 12-page issue featured Sacramento and Yosemite annual meeting recaps with photographs of the various sights and events submitted by members; a Save the Date notice for the 2019 annual meeting; “William Birch, Ingenious Artist” by Sarah Weatherwax; notice on the Birch Symposium; Newman award announcement; new book notice on Fanny Palmer; “Currier and Ives in Press Photographs, Part III” by Jim Brust; “Through North America with a Zograscope” by Allen Bernard; Notice of upcoming November regional meeting; Prints Charming image and caption; “Regional Meeting at the Getty” with photographs submitted by Jim Brust; new book notices; upcoming Exhibition at the Newberry Library on the World’s Fair; Great Moments in AHPCS History with photograph and text; announcement of new chairs. View issue as a PDF

 

Volume 42

Spring 2018 (Number 4)

Content: A piece on the Annual Meeting (call for photographs, especially true to board members as well!); Nominating Committee Report; prompt to return outstanding member surveys to AHPCS headquarters (to be forwarded to Jourdan); historic print exhibitions at Springfield Museums notice; Ontario Seed Catalog contribution from Philip Weimerskirch as well as HathiTrust piece from Mike McCue (both seemed seasonally appropriate); pre-order notice of the Fanny Palmer text from Syracuse University Press with discount code; conservation grant notice of September 30, 2018 deadline (with Roger’s contact information); “A Happy Ending for a Print Collection” by Rona Schneider with photographs; “The Joy of Regional Meetings” by Nancy Finlay; Progress note on potential AHPCS website; “The Lost Companion” by James S. Brust; upcoming exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. View issue as a PDF

Winter 2018 (Number 3)

Content: Information on 2018 Annual Meeting in Sacramento (with registration form); additional insert in the form of a “Member survey” with SASE envelope; note: this issue of the News Letter was not a self-mailer as it had both a returnable survey as well as the annual meeting registration form. It was decided that in order to keep all the pieces together, having a once-a-year exterior envelope would be efficient. In addition to the annual meeting cover with Jim Brust’s photographs, there was also a single page devoted to the pre-trip to Manzanar. There were three beautifully written In Memoriam pieces – one for George Fox, one for Marshall Berkoff, and one for Jack Clarke. Thank you so much to those who contributed. There was regional meeting coverage of the meeting at Cape Ann (FH Lane show) and the McLoughlin Brothers show at the Grolier Club in New York City. Shadwell Committee news consisted of news of an award to the Ashland Museum and a call for more proposals for conservation. There were also Regional Meeting announcements for Princeton and Yale in the early Spring. Notice from Mike McCue about an informational regional meeting he held with talk; illustrated piece by David Wright, “A.O. Moore’s Portraits of the Maidu Indians of California, 1861”; note about Fanny Palmer text. View issue as a PDF

Fall 2017 (Number 2)

Content: A special note on conferences: “William Birch and the Complexities of American Visual Culture” Library Company of Philadelphia and the Center for Historic American Visual Culture (CHAViC) at the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) with the American Printing History Association (APHA) offered a joint conference on October 6-7, 2017 “Good, Fast, Cheap: Printed Words & Images in America before 1900” (stress on the continued work of promoting historic prints by institutional members); Exhibition catalog mention for Drawn from Nature & on Stone: The Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane (ed. Barnhill); annual meeting pre-trip to Manzanar; title of note to members: John Baskerville; art and industry in the Enlightenment (Liverpool University Press, October 2017); 2018 Sacramento annual meeting announcement; Manuscript Society Visit to International Print Museum in Carson, Dec. 2, 2017; Marshall Berkhoff passing; David Wright article “Two 1884 Mary Nimmo Moran Etchings as Gifts to her students”; piece Chris Lane “Middleton Copycat Prints” with images; coverage of recent AHPCS regional meeting in Lewisburg, West Virginia, December 9, 2017, note about Lauren Hewes leading tour of exhibition of McLoughlin Bros. at Grolier Club; meeting on March 16, 2018 – Julie Melby will host a meeting at Princeton University; recap of East Long Island regional meeting and associated photos; Brust piece “great moments in AHPCS History with photo”; AHPCS fellow interview with Michael Rife; California Regional Meeting recap at the Huntington Library; a new publication by Mark D. Tomasco, Images of Value: The Artwork Behind US Security Engravings, 1830s-1980s; new book of note by Schmidt, Suzanne Karr and Edward H. Wouk, eds. Prints in Translation, 1450-1750: Image, Materiality, Space. New York: Routledge, 2017. View issue as a PDF

Summer 2017 (Number 1)

Content: Regional Meeting announcement for November Cape Ann Historical Meeting to coincide with Drawn from Nature (curated by Gigi Barnhill); database Ex-Machina featured; Regional Meeting announcement at the Huntington in July; feature “Kickapoo Catlin” by James S. Brust using vibrant cards to illustrate; Ann Arbor Annual Meeting brief and thank you to organizers (as well as photo collage in center); notice about upcoming annual meeting 2018 in Sacramento and Yosemite National Park (on page one with jump); Regional Meeting announcement at the Greenbrier Historical Society; notice for additional regional meeting planners; new design note; board of directors updated; “Further Adventures of an Audubon-phile” by Charles Walker; regional meeting notice for Eastern Long Island on August 27; blog post announcement from Free Library of Philadelphia; Houghton Library at 75 (events/publication); Portland Art Museum exhibition notice; New book on Harold Hugo; article by Helena Wright “Sacred to the Memory of General George Washington” on 1818 copper-engraving by Sarah Wood; full-page description of upcoming annual meeting. View issue as a PDF