“During the last 50 years, the conception and production of the book has evolved into an art form that exceeds all former standards for the book as object. Book arts have become a mature medium, and California artists and printers are leaders in the fine arts of the book,” – Roberto G. Trujillo, head of Stanford Library’s Department of Special Collections.
Currently on view at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University is the exhibit, The Art of the Book in California: Five Contemporary Presses. Featuring nearly 50 books the exhibit highlights some of the amazing book art and fine press work emanating from the great book state of California.
The featured presses are:
Foolscap Press
Moving Parts Press
Ninja Press
Peter Koch Printers and
Turkey Press
The catalog for the exhibition features essays by Robert Bringhurst and Peter Koch and a detailed bibliographic entry for each book in the exhibit. Bringhurst has also put together a Chronology of Fine Printing in California that takes us from the birth of Agustín V. Zamorano, a provisional governor of Alta California and the state’s first printer, in 1798 through the 2007 launch of the Codex Foundation‘s first biennial international fine press book fair.
For those of you planning on being in Northern California this summer, the exhibit runs through August 28, 2011.