Ephemera Society of America Annual Conference & Fair coming in March

The Ephemera Society of America is an international organization of collectors, dealers, scholars, museums, libraries, and everyone interested in the world of paper and printing. We appreciate all aspects of ephemera, and encourage collecting, scholarship and artistry.
The Time & Place
Ephemera 33, our Conference and Fair, to be held March 15-17, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, is THE major event for our passion. We look forward to seeing you all for the weekend. For particulars and easy registration see the panel on the right.

The Conference

This year, a special program on the theme of "Ephemera: Art and Commerce" is intended to inspire and attract people who are enamored by its aesthetics, history, and applications. The program is followed by a two-day fair with 70 leading ephemera dealers

The conference will explore the multifaceted relationship between art and ephemera. Art and ephemera "intersect" at several junctions:


Ephemera may be classified as an art object, collected and studied primarily for its beauty and design rather than for its content.

Ephemera naturally reflects the artistic style (e.g. Victorian, Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Wiener Werkstätte, Art Deco) of its period.

Ephemera relates to art in that we can sometimes trace the historical evolution of images appearing on ephemera (art history).

Ephemera relates to art in that over the course of history it has the transformative power to become art.

Art relates to ephemera in the similar methods that are used to create both.

Art relates to ephemera in that letterpress printers making ephemera had to develop new artistic techniques in order to compete with other methods of creating ephemera including chromolithography and engraving. These printers had to think of new "artistic" ways to use seemingly confining metal type.

Art relates to ephemera in that artists use ephemera to create art.

Perhaps the above points about art and ephemera have caused your creative juices to begin to flow. Fear not, for the conference will also provide an opportunity for participants to create art, using ephemera, under the tutelage of two well-known artisans. The materials for this adventure will be supplied.


The Ephemera Fair

Not to be out shadowed by the conference on Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17, the International Ephemera Fair with 70 select ephemera sellers from California to Maine, and Canada and England, will set up shop in the grand ballroom and promenade of the hotel, exhibiting a wide array of materials ranging from posters to friendship tokens, historical memorabilia to invitations, trade cards and manuscripts. America's finest dealers in antique and vintage ephemera constitute an invaluable resource for collectors, researchers, scholars, curators and librarians to learn about ephemera, acquire ephemera, and make contact with ephemera collectors and dealers in a wide variety of subjects and formats. The Ephemera Fair is an essential link between collectors, dealers, institutions, and academia.

A bit of ephemera for every collecting interest. Entry to the fair is $12 for adults, Youths 12-21, $6.

The expert speakers on March 15, the Fair on March 16 and 17, and the formidable workshops on March 17, are helping to create what we believe is a landmark event for the world of printing and art and ephemera. We hope to see you there, and please share this information so that people can add it to their calendar; Greenwich is a short ride from New York City.

Winterthur Acquires Renowned Ephemera Collection

WINTERTHUR, Del. – Winterthur has made the largest single gift purchase in its history with the addition of the John and Carolyn Grossman Collection, one of the most comprehensive archives of period graphic ephemera ever to have been assembled.

     On loan to Winterthur since 2008, the Grossman Collection represents approximately 250,000 vividly colored, printed items portraying life in America from 1820 to 1920. Ephemera represents a host of materials designed to circulate in society for only a brief time, including greeting cards, product labels, baseball cards, postcards, scrapbooks, calendars, paper dolls, sheet music, event tickets and more."
    Since printed ephemera typically lasts for such a short time, the Grossmans have performed a heroic task in saving so much of it and making it available to the public through the Winterthur Library," said E. Richard McKinstry, Winterthur library director and Andrew W. Mellon senior librarian. "Images portrayed on ephemera are sometimes the only ones to have survived that document life in America and other countries a century and more ago."

    The collection documents the methods of lithography and chromolithography and all they represented visually from the early 19th through the early 20th centuries. Images portray the customs, attitudes and ideals of Victorian and Edwardian life: innocent children, garden-fresh flowers, romantic couples, holiday traditions, fashionable women, anthropomorphic animals and cigar-smoking gentlemen.

    Among the collection's treasures is the first commercially produced Christmas card, printed in 1843 in England, along with its printer's proof. The Grossmans also saved the extraordinary archive of the George Schlegel Lithographic Co., a 19th-and 20th-century business in New York City that specialized in printing cigar box labels.

Winterthur has showcased the collection in its library exhibitions and in the museum's Yuletide displays. It has been a magnet for students and researchers, especially those interested in Winterthur's Research Fellowship Program. The graphic materials also have been used successfully in Winterthur's licensing and marketing efforts.

     McKinstry said that having the Grossman Collection permanently housed at Winterthur further solidifies the library's status as a center for advanced research.
"Winterthur is deeply grateful to John and Carolyn Grossman for making this remarkable collection available not only to scholars, Winterthur staff and our visitors, but also to thousands of researchers, who can now access these materials through the Winterthur Library online," McKinstry said.

    Dr. Katherine C. Grier, a University of Delaware history professor, said the collection enhances Winterthur's holdings enough to seal its reputation as having "the No. 1 research library in the country for the study of visual culture in America between the 1860s and 1920s." Grier, a former member of Winterthur's Academic Programs Department, said the collection gives Winterthur sufficient depth to serve as an unparalleled resource on topics such as the history of printing technology, the history of graphic design, and the history of advertising and marketing.

     In relation to social and cultural history, the collection can be mined for information on such topics as: evolving ideals of domestic life, the construction of race and ethnicity, the changing nature of gender identity, the history of sexuality, the history of leisure and sport, the history of childhood, and such topics as foodways, popular medicine and dress.

To learn more about Winterthur's Grossman Collection, visit winterthur.org.</p><p>via <a href='http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index.php/auctions/upcoming-auctions/9247-winterthur-acquires-renowned-ephemera-collection'>Winterthur acquires renowned ephemera collection</a>.</p>

Reposted from Liveauctioneers.com

Digital Ephemera Stewardship

Kristopher F. Nelson from the Library of Congress’s Office of Strategic Initiatives sent out an email this morning about a new program. We should always happy to help out the good folks at the Library of Congress–keepers of our nation’s best ephemera. And, if you want to spread the word across your social networks by linking to this post, I’m sure Kristopher would appreciate it.

The Library of Congress and The Institute of Museum and Library Services are pleased to announce that the call for applications for the inaugural National Digital Stewardship Residency (NDSR) class will begin next week.

The NDSR program will allow ten recent graduates of Master’s degree programs in relevant fields to complete a nine-month residency at various institutions in the Washington, D.C. area. The entire list of projects can currently be found on the NDSR Web site .

Institutions that will be hosting residents include:

Association of Research Librarians

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library

Folger Shakespeare Library

The Library of Congress

Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities / University of Maryland Libraries

National Library of Medicine

The National Security Archive

Public Broadcasting Service

Smithsonian Institution Archives

The World Bank
 
Beginning in September 2013, accepted residents will attend an intensive two-week digital stewardship workshop at the Library of Congress. Thereafter, residents will begin their experience at a host institution to work on significant digital stewardship projects. Their projects will allow them to acquire hands-on knowledge and skills involving the collection, selection, management, long-term preservation, and accessibility of digital assets.
 Additional information about NDSR can be found at
www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsr.

NSDR has great resources for individuals as well on preserving and maintiaining your digital collections.

Application instructions will be available next week.

Reblogged from from ephemera by martyweil