Past programs of The Aldus Society have included a wide variety of topics, with selected archived on VHS or DVD for future use by Aldus members.
2023 Programs
February 9: Michael Nye, editor of Story, discussed the revival of the print literary magazine, the challenges of contemporary publishing, and why this literary institution still matters to readers and writers.
March 2: Sarah Brown owner of Questionable Press, a letterpress printer based in Lancaster, Ohio, discussed the creation of cards, posters, masks, and paper sculptures on a 1958 Heidelberg letterpress.
See also our upcoming programs.
2022 Programs
Aug. 11: Jeff Smith, author of the landmark series Bone discussed his work,
the rise of graphic novels, and Crossroads Columbus (CXC).
Sept 8: Investigative journalist and best-selling author Michael Blanding discussed his book, In Shakespeare’s Shadow, winner of the International Book Award.
Oct. 13: Michael Hancher, a specialist in Victorian writers and artists, discussed revising his 1984 book, The Tenniel Illustrations to the “Alice” Books.
Nov. 10: Professor Sam Meier, an expert on the Ancient Near East, discussed
his book, Codes and Messages in Ancient Texts.
History of Text Series
- The History of Text & Image – The Classical Age: Latin Epigraphy (Charles Babcock)
- The History of Text & Image – Medieval Latin Manuscripts (Frank Coulson)
- The History of Text & Image – Medieval Slavic Manuscripts (Predrag Matejic)
- The History of Text & Image – The St. Gall School and Scriptorium in the Early Middle Ages (Anna Grotans)
- The History of Text & Image – Anglo-Saxon Manuscript Tradition (Drew Jones)
- The History of Text & Image – Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: The History of a Book and the History of the Book (John King)
- The History of Text & Image – Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts and Their History (Daniel Frank)
- The History of Text & Image – The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (Michael Zwettler)
- Early Japanese Language Books (Jim Unger)
- History of the Chinese Book: Libraries and Book-Collecting in Late Ming and Qing China (Christopher A. Reed)
- Inside the Digital Scriptorium (H. Lewis Ulman)
- The History of Text & Image – Anglo-Saxon Manuscript Tradition (Drew Jones)
- The History of Text & Image – Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: The History of a Book and the History of the Book (John King)
- The History of Text & Image – Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts and Their History (Daniel Frank)
- The History of Text & Image – The Arabic Manuscript Tradition (Michael Zwettler)
- Early Japanese Language Books (Jim Unger)
- History of the Chinese Book: Libraries and Book-Collecting in Late Ming and Qing China (Christopher A. Reed)
- Inside the Digital Scriptorium (H. Lewis Ulman)
Additional Past Programs
We also provide this select list of programs from the past 10 years to illustrate the scope of our programming. A few link to transcripts from the program:
- Collecting Victorian Literature (Robert Jackson)
- The Logan Elm Press (Bob Tauber)
- Collecting Mark Twain (Robert Slotta)
- Book Design & Printing (Graham Moss)
- Tales of the Book Trade (Bruce McKittrick)
- Finding the Right Conservation Solution for Important Library Collections (Wes Boomgaarden)
- The Art of Calligraphy: A History of Script, Part I (Ann Alaia Woods)
- Prophetic Whims: Observations on the Future of Book Collecting (Jack Matthews)
- Between Papyrus and Paper: Vellum Manuscript Treasures of the Pierpont Morgan Library (William Voelkle)
- The First Books Published in Columbus (Charles Cole)
- The Art of Dard Hunter: American Craftsman, Artist, Type Designer, Papermaker & Printer (Dard Hunter III)
- Selecting Books for Book Reviews (Bill Eichenberger)
- Searching for Captain Cook: My Serendipitous Journey (Ron Ravneberg)
- The Art of Calligraphy: A History of Script, Part II (Ann Alaia Woods)
- More Than Recipes: A Literary Look at Cookbooks (Peter Franklin)
- Collecting James Thurber (Jay Hoster)
- An American Avant Garde: Second Wave (Marvin Sackner)
- Building a Special Collection (Owen Kubik)
- Calligraphy Workshop (Ann Alaia Woods)
- Gothic Art for the Industrial Age: The Middle Ages Revisited in the Art of the Pre-Raphaelites (Stephen N. Fliegal)
- The Publishing World and the Future of Books (Susanne Jaffe)
- Conservation of Books and Paper (Harry Campbell)
- The Repair and Conservation of Sacred Documents (Rabbi William Goldberg)
- Art of the Picture Book (Sylvia and Ken Marantz)
- Collecting Landmark Books of Western Civilization (Stuart Rose)
- Overlooked Authors Deserving Recognition, born in Columbus, Ohio, in the Nineteenth Century (Charles Cole)
- Collecting Books on Switzerland (Donald Tritt)
- Comics 100: The History of American Comic Strips (Lucy Caswell)
- First American Editions of Nineteenth Century British Authors (Bill Rich)
- Aldus Membership “Show and Tell”
- Other People’s Books: Association Copies and Literary Detective Work (Paul Ruxin)
- A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World (Nicholas Basbanes) as part of the Celebration of the Book
- Tanakh and Testament: A Reprobate Tinkers with Holy Writ (Barry Moser) as part of the Celebration of the Book
- Opening reception speech of Guild of Book Workers’ traveling exhibit, “In Flight.” (Donald Glaister)
- The Hawkesworth Copy: A Bibliographic Investigation of James Cook, John Hawkesworth and the Strahan Quarto Editions of 1773 (Ron Ravneberg) (Read his Hawkesworth essay)
- History of Kenny’s Bookshop (Desmond Kenny)
- The Anti-Slavery Collection of Oberlin College Library: A Monument to “The Town the Started the Civil War.” (Ed Vermue)
- “The Sting of the Wasp” exhibit presentation, (Richard Samuel West) co-sponsored event at the OSU Cartoon Research Library
- Local booksellers panel
- The Future of Books (Paul Watkins)
- Collecting Illuminated Manuscripts (John Lawrence)
- Art Nouveau Book Illustration in England and France (Paul Christenson)
- The Life and Collections of J. K. Lilly (Joel Silver)
- This Old Book (Harry Campbell)
- The Revival of the Logan Elm Press (Bob Tauber)
- Researching “The Book Nobody Read,” Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. (Owen Gingerich)
- Circus Collectibles (Fred Pfening)
- Benjamin Franklin (Kay Kramer)
- Sentenced to Life: the Books of Christopher Morley (Jack Matthews)
- The Antiquarian Book Trade (John Crichton)
- The Literary Legacy of African-American Authors in Ohio before 1860 (Charles Cole)
- The Good-bye Door: Researching Anna Marie Hahn (Diana Britt Franklin)
- The Enemies (and Friends) of Books (Panel Presentation)
- In Search of Rockwell Kent (Robert Jackson)
- History of Paper Marbling (Ann Woods)
- The Puritan Library (Geoff Smith)
- Graphic Novels (Jared Gardner)
- Rhetoric, Elocution, and Oratory (Jerry Tarver)
- Children’s Illustrated Books (David Godine)
- The Folger Shakespeare Library (Steven Galbraith)
- Trade Catalogs (Ivan Gilbert, Geoff Smith)
- Spy Time: Intelligence Holdings at Georgetown University (Nicholas B. Scheetz)
- Collecting Early Modern Medical Books (Jack Stalling)
- Confessions of a Puzzle Solving Addict (Owen Gingerich)
- “Light” and other editorial cartoons (Richard Samuel West)
- The Book is Dead… It Just Doesn’t Know It (Scott Brown)
- Map Collections at the Newberry Library (Robert Karrow)
- The Columbus Metropolitan Library: Not Your Father’s Library! (Patrick Losinski)
- African American Children’s Literature: Surveying the Hopescape (Rudine Sims Bishop)
- Collecting Captain Cook on a Budget (David Lilburne)
- Miniature Books (Gabrielle Fox)
- Mark Twain Matters (Bob Slotta)
- The Future of Books in a Digital Age (Michael Suarez)
- Collecting on the War of 1812 (Lou Schultz)
- Wilbur H. Siebert Collection (Liz Plummer, Jason Crabill, Jillian Carney)
- Biblio-Detection (Ken Sanders)
- All Things Dewey (Larry Olszewski)
- A Message to Garcia: The Pamphlet that Created an American Myth (Don Rice)
- Visiting Writer’s Houses (Anne Trubek)
- Somewhere I Have Never Travelled: The Discovery of e.e. cummings, Modernist Painter (Steven Katz)
- Biblio-forensics relating to Shakespeare’s First Folio (Steven Galbraith)
- Following Jane Austen’s Literary Footsteps (Carrie Bebris)
- Modernism Came Home on Book Covers (Richard Minsky)
- Confessions of an Unrepentant Bibliophile (Kevin Graffagnino)
- Destroying Medieval Manuscripts for Pleasure and Profit (Fred Porcheddu)
- The Gunslinger-Writer (John Locke)
- Woodcuts and Jackalopes (Rachel Waymel)
- Rare and Collectible Children’s Book (Justin Schiller)
- Freedom of the Press (Wesley Baker)
- Copyright (Sandra Enimil)
- The Past and Future of Book Collecting (Wes Cowan)
- Carnegie Libraries of Ohio (Mary Ellen Armentrout)
- From Athanasius Kircher To Ashton Kutcher: 350 Years of Strange, Unusual, Eccentric, and Just Plain Weird Books. Or, Heteromorphic Literature 101. (Stephen Gertz)
- The Making of a Medieval Manuscript Facsimile: Bibliothèque nationale de France MS fr. 22971 (John Friedman)
- The Bibliophilic Anatomy of a Literary Society (Mike Whelan)
- Deconstructing and Reconstructing a Medieval Bible (Eric Johnson)
- The Rise and Fall of Early American Magazine Culture (Jared Gardner)
- 38 Years and Counting: a Life of Bookselling, Publishing, and Bibliomania (Bob Fleck)
- Genevieve Jones: The Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio (Joy Kiser)
- Preserving Sermones Discipuli de Tempore Et de Sanctis (Harry Campbell)
- Ohio Archaeology Books (Jarrod Burks)
- Print Pop Culture (Nancy Down)
- justAjar Design + Press (Bobby and Sara Rosenstock)
- Tarot’s Transition: Egypt to Connecticut (Tony Clark)
- Archimedes Palimpsest Project (William Noel)
- Digital Imaging of Rare Materials (Amy McCrory)
- Stories from the Spencer (Beth Whittaker)
- Kenyon Review (David Lynn)
- Alice at 150: Artistic Visions as Visual Translation (Arnold Hirshon)
- Seeing the Great War (Lucy Caswell)
- Visual Interpretation of Classics (Matt Kish)
- Freed from a Parchment Jail: a Bibliographic Story of the Birth of the Avant-Garde (Olchar Lindsann)
- The Alchemy of Special Collections: Undergraduate Fellowships and Courses based on Unique Materials at Trinity College (Richard Ring)