Canadian Fine Press Exhibit: A Multi-library Exhibition of Artisanal Print Collections and the Launch of “A Tetrad”

About the Canadian Fine Press Exhibit and A Tetrad

Exploring Mid-century Print Collections at Five U of T Libraries

THE CANADIAN FINE PRESS EXHIBIT was launched at the University of St. Michael’s College with the release of the Kelly Library chapbook A Tetrad on January 22, 2019. The exhibit marked the beginning of the John M. Kelly Library’s 50th Anniversary. With exhibitions at five locations on the University of Toronto campus, the Canadian Fine Press Exhibit celebrated a wide range of letterpress publications, hand-printed ephemera, chapbooks, and other fine-press works to be found within the university’s special collections and libraries. The exhibition ran concurrently from January to May 2019 and included spotlights on poetry chapbooks, Toronto-area fine presses, individual printers and designers, and the career of the printer and designer Glenn Goluska.

Exhibition

January 22 to May 30, 2019

Contributing Libraries

EXHIBIT SPOTLIGHT

Glenn Goluska

A 1969 grad of St. Michael’s, printer, designer, and typographer Glenn Goluska began his career at the Coach House Press in Toronto in the 1970s. He then founded imprimerie dromadaire and Nightshade Press. He was the graphic designer for the Canadian Centre for Architecture. In 2011, he was awarded the Robert R. Reid medal for lifetime achievement in the book arts from the Alcuin Society. Goluska’s work is featured extensively throughout the exhibition.

EXHIBIT LECTURE

Robert MacDonald

Robert MacDonald was a graphic artist who became a typographer, who became a printer, who became a publisher, who became an information architect, who became a program director, who became a writer, who became a designer – and who still can’t get over how much fun it all was in spite of the vicissitudes of fate and fortune. Now an avid reader, social activist, and cottage gardener in the outrageously beautiful Okanagan valley, he still often rises to a creative challenge, especially if type, ink, paper, and glue are involved.

Exhibit Opening

University of St. Michael’s College on January 22, 2019

Scenes from the Canadian Fine Press Exhibit opening, January 2019
Scenes from the Canadian Fine Press Exhibit opening, January 2019
Archivist Simon Rogers, Chief Librarian Sheril Hook, and College Printer Deborah Barnett at the Canadian Fine Press Exhibit opening, January 2019
Michael McLuhan with Book & Media Studies Professor Paolo Granata, Canadian Fine Press Exhibit opening, January 2019

Selections from the Exhibit

The Canadian Fine Press Exhibit took place across five institutions and ran concurrently from January to May 2019.

John M. Kelly Library, St. Michael’s College

“Print and Printers at the Kelly Library”

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the John M. Kelly Library presented a major exhibition on Canadian fine presses, with a special focus on printers, design, and press work. The Kelly Library exhibition featured a display of hand-press processes and materials from the artisanal presses of the library’s Print Studio with a special showcase on the fine print and design work of St. Michael’s 1969 grad Glenn Goluska.

Exhibit

January 22 to April 19, 2019

Location

113 St. Joseph Street, Toronto

Curated by

Deborah Barnett
Chester Gryski
Simon Rogers

Exhibit Design

Sheila Eaton

Robert KROETSCH : Liebhaber’s Wood Type. In Wayzgoose Anthology, 1987 (A gathering of signatures produced by Private Press Printers and bound by Hand by Bookbinders participating in Wayzgoose ’87, Grimsby Public Art Gallery, Saturday, 25 April, 1987. One of 22 signatures.
In Vino Veritas: A Typographic Celebration in Bottles and Goblets of Wine and Drink. Wayzgoose 81, Grimsby. Toronto: Imprimerie Dromadaire, 1981. Card covers sewn. 21.8 cm x 13.9 cm.
Alexander URUSOV : The Cry of Distant Ants. Toronto: Imprimerie Dromadaire, 1978. Types: foundry Palatino and Egyptian Bold Condensed Paper: Nideggen. 24.3 cm x 16.3 cm. 36 pages.
bpNichol : journal. Toronto: The Coach House Press, 1978. Types: Clarendon and wood type. 21.5 x 12. Pages vi, 80.
El Lissitzky : Typographic Facts. Toronto: Imprimerie Dromadaire, 1985. Types: Metrolite, Metroblack, woodtype (typeface not-specified). Paper: Mohawk Letterpress Text. 21.5 x 14 cm (8 pages plus cover). Typographic Facts was first published in 1925. This edition has been designed, composed, and printed at Imprimerie Dromadaire, Toronto, February 1985. It contains a statement of Lissitzky’s design principles.
Denis ROCHE : La Poésie / Poetry. Imprimerie Dromadaire. No place or date stated. Types: French text is Trump Semi-Bold Condensed and the English text is Gill Sans. The other type-face is not known. 42 cm x 27.5 cm Broadside.

E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria College

“Canadian Poets and Fine Press”

The exhibition at the E.J. Pratt Library featured ephemera and books of poetry composed by individuals associated with Victoria University. These titles were published by various private presses in Canada between the 1950s and the early 2000s, including Aliquando, Blackfish, Dreadnaught, Frog Hollow, Gauntlet, Grand Union, Hawkshead, Salamander, Seizin, and Tortoise.