2022-2023 Schedule
September
Reviving a beautiful craft: The Dun Emer and Cuala Presses
7:00 pm – Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Groveland Gallery, 25 Groveland Terrace, Minneapolis
Patrick Coleman will speak about Irish presses of the Arts and Crafts movement in the first in person meeting of the season.
October
Your Book is Upside Down: A Crash Course in Japanese Bibliography
7:00 pm – Thursday, October 20, 2022
Open Book – Room 203, 1011 S. Washington Ave, Minneapolis (In Person)
Ampersander Maria Lin will present on how Japanese bibliography and book culture are little understood in the west, but it is not as hard to orient ourselves in this world as it might seem at first. This talk will cover the basics of how Japanese books have been made, used, collected, and studied through history, with some misconceptions dispelled, and many upside down books shown.
November
The History and Work of Scott King and the Red Dragonfly Press
7:00 pm – Thursday, November 17 2022
Open Book – 2nd floor Performance Hall, 1011 S. Washington Ave, Minneapolis (In Person)
Ampersander Jim Lenfestey will present
December
Fraud and Forgery: the University of Michigan Galileo Manuscript
7:00 pm – Thursday, November 17 2022
This meeting will be held remotely on Zoom
Ampersander Caitlin Moriarty will introduce a prerecorded program from the University if Michigan Bentley Historical Library about the recent discovery that the University’s prized Galileo manuscript was a 20th century forgery. Historian Nick Wilding, who discovered the forgery, presents his research and participates in a discussion with Pablo Alvarez, the curator at the U-M Special Collections Library who is in charge of the manuscript.
Members will be send the zoom link via email before the meeting
January
Holiday Party
7:00 pm – Saturday, January 7 2023
At the home of Susan and Jim Lenfestey
February
Members Show and Tell
7:00 pm – Thursday, February 16, 2023
Campbell-Logan Bindery – 7615 Baker St. NE, Fridley, MN 55432
It’s time for another Collectors Roundtable meeting, our first in-person roundtable since 2019! In our traditional “show-and-tell” meeting format, you are encouraged to bring a favorite item from your collection to present and discuss briefly with your fellow Ampersanders. However, bringing an item is certainly not required for meeting attendance. Come and check out the diversity of fellow club members’ collecting interests, and perhaps find some aligned with your own.
March
A tour of the Studio of CB Sherlock
7:00 pm – Thursday, March 15 2023
Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art – 250 3rd Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Join us at the first floor gallery exhibit of work by Ampersander CB Sherlock. CB will discuss the journey from researching her connection to the Yellowstone River to the fine press book. She will talk about combining image and writing to create narratives.
After her presentation, CB will conduct a tour of her studio for those who are curious.
The exhibit runs through March 24th.
April
A Booksellers’ Roundtable
7:00 pm – Thursday, April 20 2023
American Swedish Institute – 2600 Park Ave – Mpls 55407
Ampersander Rob Rulon-Miller will moderate a panel discussion comprised of six prominent rare and antiquarian booksellers, with Rob as a seventh. This will likely be a lively and wide-ranging conversation of issues and stories of the trade among those with decades of experience. The panel’s participants are Jim Cummings, Mark Larson, Steve Stilwell, Steve Anderson, Kristen Eide, and Bill Stevens
May
Annual Dinner – Ashley Shelby
Life on the Ice Chip: Beakers, Nailheads, Old Books, and Dead Explorers at 90 South
6:00 pm – Thursday, May 18 2023
Jax Cafe – 1928 University Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418
Free parking in the lot on 20th Ave NE across from Jax (enter lot from 20th Ave NE).
Ashley Shelby is an author, journalist, and Twin-Cities native whose short fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in numerous national periodicals. Her novels include the award-winning South Pole Station, as well as her most recent, Muri, a climate fiction reimagining of Melville’s Benito Cereno.
Ms. Shelby will present on the strange social ecosystem at South Pole Station. From groundbreaking climate and cosmological discoveries to petty arguments, mysterious deaths, mind-numbing bureaucracy, and an endless supply of booze, life at 90 South is as extreme as the environment surrounding it.
Reservation forms were mailed to members by USPS
Information about past topics and speakers can be found on the past meetings page.