We have suggested that many folks avoid collecting fine press books for their private library because they feel such books are too expensive. We also have suggested that this is a misconception--that if you know what to look for at yard sales, garage sales, friends-of-the-library book sales and the like, you often can pick up fine press books for a pittance. We have further suggested that without routine exposure to fine press books, such as attendance at fine press book fairs like Codex, it is much more difficult to develop the necessary "eye" to determine what may, or may not, be a fine press book.
If constraints of time and/or money make it difficult to attend fine press book fairs, you need a proxy who can attend such events for you, and also keep you up-to-date on everything else that is happening in the modern fine press movement. The Fine Press Book Association (FPBA) makes an excellent proxy.
Conceived at Oak Knoll Fest in 1996, FPBA had its first meeting two years later, at which time it also published the first issue of its magazine about the modern fine press movement, Parenthesis. In that same year (1998), FPBA began to co-sponsor with the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA) the Oxford Fine Press Book Fair, held every other year at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England.
For very little money (currently $48.00 for USA members), here's what a FPBA membership buys you: the aforementioned Parenthesis, published twice a year (alternating between fine printers in the USA and the UK). Loaded with articles, Parenthesis alone is worth the cost of membership! Take at look at a recent Table of Contents:
News and Commentary
Editorial, Paul Razzell
Chairman’s Column, Robert McCamant
Letter to the Editor, Paul W. Nash
Parenthesis Turns 10, David Jury
Society of Wood Engravers Seventieth Exhibition, Miles Wigfield
The Kelmscott Chaucer Census, William and Sylvia Peterson
In Memoriam
Remembering Paul Hayden Duensing, Richard L. Hopkins
Features
Printing in the Shadow of Aldus Manutius, Peter Koch
The Revival of the Petrarch Press, William Bentley
History & Methods
Cui Bono? Printing the Greek and Latin Classics in a Semi-Literate Age, Bruce Whiteman
Fine and Private Press Editions of Rudyard Kipling, David Alan Richards
Sylvae: an Adventure in Fine Printmaking, Gaylord Schanilec
In Type
Henk Kreijger and the Raffia Initials, Peter Enneson
Reference Shelf
Designing the Mentoring Stamp, Barry Moser
New Vintage Type, Crispin Elsted
book art object, David Jury
Reviews: Press Books
Georgics, Crispin Elsted
Prometheus Bound, Bruce Whiteman
The Role of Line in Art, C.J. Fox
On Collecting William Morris, Fran Durako
Hung out to Dry, Phil Cleaver
Antarctica, John Russell
Leaves from the Pie Tree, Andrew Steeves
Mimpish Squinnies, Charles van Sandwyk
The Double Escape, James P. Delgado
In Darkest England, Crispin Elsted
Dutch Silverpoints, Paul Delaney
Coincidental Pleasures, Michael Barnes
Playground Football, Jeremy Wilson
The Intimate Stranger, Susan M. Allen
Pshaw!: 30 Years of Poltroonery, Kyle Schlesinger
Beckett's Last Words and Poems of the Great War, Sebastian Carter
Of course, Parenthesis also is loaded with great illustrations to support these articles:
In addition to Parenthesis, members receive a quarterly electronic newsletter, and they have access to a wonderful, recently re-designed website that is chock full of fine press goodies, including: a great blog; new fine press books published by FPBA-member presses; podcasts & webcasts about various aspects of fine press printing; a continually updated list of fine press exhibits & events in North America, Europe and elsewhere; a list of academic programs where you can learn various aspects of fine press book production; a list of FPBA-member fine presses, dealers & suppliers; and much more besides!
If you want to gradually ease your way into collecting fine press books for your private library, an FPBA membership is an excellent place to begin....
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