The American Sephardi Federation and Centro Primo Levi are expanding the scope of Bookhouse with a traditional Print Shop offering letterpress printing and book arts, exploring Hebrew’s encounters with other languages and their caleidoscopic offspring. The Print Shop will serve the public at large as well as institutions, libraries, and the publishing sector. The partner in this venture is the Yiddish Printmakers Cooperative, which brings together young book artists passionate about reviving and cultivating traditional techniques.
The Cooperative includes Sophie Edelhart, who has worked extensively with the Balinson Hebrew Type Collection as a fellow and apprentice in the Massey College Bibliography Room at the University of Toronto; Caleb Sher, who is currently working on the Yiddish type at the Yiddish Book Center; Jacob Romm, teaching assistant for a letterpress seminar at Yale University; Jay Saper, who has taught a course rooted in Jewish book arts at Middlebury College, and EJ Youcha, a private practice bookbinder and artist who trained at the North Bennet Street School. The Cooperative has years of experience using, maintaining, and repairing traditional letterpress printing equipment, including wood and metal type, illustration blocks, platen presses, and cylinder presses, as well as teaching printing to beginner students.
Jewish printing has a long and rich history in Italy, dating back to the 15th century in Reggio Calabria and Rome, and has deep roots in many cities, including Mantua, Ferrara, Venice, and Livorno. From there, it moved to the Ottoman Empire and Northern Europe. Some of the earliest printing, ranging from Yiddish to Ladino, was done in the Italian peninsula, following the early flourishing of the printing press.
Driven by an ethos of community engagement, we aim to build a space to practice and learn about the history of book arts and Jewish books, and to continue developing this rich tradition. This collaborative book-arts studio will offer opportunities for public engagement, including printmaking and bookbinding workshops, poster-making with handset Hebrew wood type, holiday card printing, and collaborative zines on Jewish history and culture.
The Print Shop will give a modern stage to a vibrant print culture rooted in diasporic linguistic traditions. It will attract renowned and emerging artists, host residencies, exhibit contemporary and archival Jewish book arts, print limited editions, and complement Centro Primo Levi’s CPL Editions.
In the same spirit of Bookhouse that suspends national and regional borders in favor of understanding history as a map of translations, the Print Shop will offer a platform where all languages that were cradles to Hebrew intersect and converse, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, French, German, Russian, Farsi, and many others.
At a glance
The Print Shop houses a small and a medium press as well as a collection of new and vintage fonts in different alphabets. It offers the following services:
- Public workshops and programs.
- Produce prints, publications, and exhibits.
- Create collaborative book arts projects with other book-arts organizations.
- Support studio use for individual artists.
- Print cards, invitations, commemorative blessings, poetry, and prayers.
FIRST RUN: Order our beautifully hand-printed cards wishing life and prosperity!
Price: $ 8 each – Set of 12 cards: $ 72 plus shipping or pick up at Bookhouse. Order at info@primolevicenter.org
