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Virginia Book Arts

@virginiabookarts.bsky.social

Member-run book arts collective based in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Successor to the membership of the Virginia Humanities Center for the Book Book Arts Program membership, which was defunded in Spring 2025.) Email: info@vabookarts.org

166 Followers  |  666 Following  |  9 Posts  |  Joined: 12.06.2025  |  2.0462

Latest posts by virginiabookarts.bsky.social on Bluesky

Photo of a hand holding up a 3"x3" acrylic square that's been lasercut to resemble the grid of a letterpress typecase. A light is shining through the translucent acrylic; the acrylic is transparent in 3 cells of the grid, where the lowercase letters v, b, and a are stored (it's Virginia Book Arts' logo)

Photo of a hand holding up a 3"x3" acrylic square that's been lasercut to resemble the grid of a letterpress typecase. A light is shining through the translucent acrylic; the acrylic is transparent in 3 cells of the grid, where the lowercase letters v, b, and a are stored (it's Virginia Book Arts' logo)

Hoping to print with this at the printshop as soon as the presses are available again.

01.10.2025 22:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Lasercut a printing block of @virginiabookarts.bsky.social's new logo (a letterpress typecase, with the places v, b, & a go highlighted) #DHmakes

01.10.2025 22:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 16    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Photo captioned "The drying line is up!" showing a wire art-drying line covered with wooden clothespins, hung in the air with a few paper prints attached. The drying line is in the new Virginia Book Arts shop; you can see an exposed red brick wall and various book arts supplies (like an organizer holding wooden blocks: wooden furniture for letterpress).

Photo captioned "The drying line is up!" showing a wire art-drying line covered with wooden clothespins, hung in the air with a few paper prints attached. The drying line is in the new Virginia Book Arts shop; you can see an exposed red brick wall and various book arts supplies (like an organizer holding wooden blocks: wooden furniture for letterpress).

Photo captioned "The drying line is up!" showing a wire art-drying line covered with wooden clothespins, hung in the air with a few paper prints attached that say show a specimen of Gill Sans type in teal blue ink on white paper. A small yellow rubber chicken hangs at the end of one wire. The drying line is in the new Virginia Book Arts shop; you can see an exposed red brick wall and various book arts supplies (like an organizer holding wooden blocks: wooden furniture for letterpress).

Photo captioned "The drying line is up!" showing a wire art-drying line covered with wooden clothespins, hung in the air with a few paper prints attached that say show a specimen of Gill Sans type in teal blue ink on white paper. A small yellow rubber chicken hangs at the end of one wire. The drying line is in the new Virginia Book Arts shop; you can see an exposed red brick wall and various book arts supplies (like an organizer holding wooden blocks: wooden furniture for letterpress).

Photo captioned "The drying line is up!" showing a wire art-drying line with a small yellow rubber chicken at the end of one wire. The drying line is in the new Virginia Book Arts shop; you can see an exposed red brick wall and various book arts supplies (like an organizer holding wooden blocks: wooden furniture for letterpress).

Photo captioned "The drying line is up!" showing a wire art-drying line with a small yellow rubber chicken at the end of one wire. The drying line is in the new Virginia Book Arts shop; you can see an exposed red brick wall and various book arts supplies (like an organizer holding wooden blocks: wooden furniture for letterpress).

Our drying line (and rubber chicken!) is up, & our steering group has been hard at work pecking at various other infrastructure needs toward filling that drying line with our community's prints again.

28.09.2025 10:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Drop in anytime at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library (JMRL) downtown Charlottesville branch, in the 3rd floor Madison Room.

24.09.2025 10:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Cville folks, tonight 5:30-7:30=our weekly BookMakers gathering! Free+open to all. Mix of old+new attendees, book artists+folks just getting started. Many bring projects to work on, but there's often short demos & equipment you can experiment w/too (wood letterpress type+BookBeetle press tonight!) +

24.09.2025 10:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
An image titled "logo inspiration" showing an old drawing of a letterpress type case in the "California job case, now almost the universal type case" layout style, with the cells where the lowercase letters V, B, and A go highlighted. Caption: "the inspiration for VBA's new logo!"

An image titled "logo inspiration" showing an old drawing of a letterpress type case in the "California job case, now almost the universal type case" layout style, with the cells where the lowercase letters V, B, and A go highlighted. Caption: "the inspiration for VBA's new logo!"

The Virginia Book Arts Logo, which says VBA's name followed by "create / collaborate / teach / preserve", next to a rectangle broken up into a grid of different-sized cells that looks like a letterpress California job case for moveable type; the places where the lowercase letters V, B, and A (for VBA) would go are highlighted.

The Virginia Book Arts Logo, which says VBA's name followed by "create / collaborate / teach / preserve", next to a rectangle broken up into a grid of different-sized cells that looks like a letterpress California job case for moveable type; the places where the lowercase letters V, B, and A (for VBA) would go are highlighted.

In "case" you weren't sure what our new logo was referencing...it's a California job case (particular layout for organizing moveable type for letterpress work) with the cells for letters V, B, A highlighted:

23.09.2025 14:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thanks to @virginiabookarts.bsky.social's @josefbeery.bsky.social for keeping our book arts community not just alive but growing by leading a weekly public+free time to craft in camraderie, carrying on & expanding our Block Night/Open Studio tradition after our Book Arts printshop+bindery closed.

15.09.2025 12:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Next stop, printshop (& bindery)! Our new space is in Charlottesville's former railroad station, near the downtown bus center & east end of the pedestrian Downtown Mall. We're full steam ahead on getting the space ready to open for community art & learning.

16.09.2025 10:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Closeup photo of a hand holding a miniature book, jsut under 1" tall, open to show a tiny binding, handdrawn art, and the title "twenty-two bugs"

Closeup photo of a hand holding a miniature book, jsut under 1" tall, open to show a tiny binding, handdrawn art, and the title "twenty-two bugs"

Photo of a BookMakers attendee working on bookbinding, with an array of equipment including a bone folder and container of paste, and array of notebooks in the process of being bound

Photo of a BookMakers attendee working on bookbinding, with an array of equipment including a bone folder and container of paste, and array of notebooks in the process of being bound

Photo of two BookMaker attendees engaged in printing work, with one showing off a blue-paper print of the words "1963 to 2022" they've made using craft-foam letters and the BookBeetle press

Photo of two BookMaker attendees engaged in printing work, with one showing off a blue-paper print of the words "1963 to 2022" they've made using craft-foam letters and the BookBeetle press

Photo of a BookMakers attendees lifting a print off the BookBeetle press (a small, wooden tabletop screw press) to show both the printed blue ink arrows design and the craft foam shapes inked and used to print them.

Photo of a BookMakers attendees lifting a print off the BookBeetle press (a small, wooden tabletop screw press) to show both the printed blue ink arrows design and the craft foam shapes inked and used to print them.

We've folks at all levels of experienceโ€”you *don't* need to feel "good at" art to come enjoy making something. We've had folks working on miniature artist books, ceramic(!) book covers; papermaking, marbling, bookbinding; craft & common press letterpress & image printing, zines, lino carving & more!

15.09.2025 12:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Photo of a table of BookMakers attendees with various bookish art implements spread in front of them, including a colorful cascade of craft-foam letters, paper, bone folders, in-process print and bookbinding work.

Photo of a table of BookMakers attendees with various bookish art implements spread in front of them, including a colorful cascade of craft-foam letters, paper, bone folders, in-process print and bookbinding work.

Composite of three photos of BookMakers attendees; two are showing off colorful prints they made on the BookBeetle press next to the press, and the 3rd photo shows a table full of folks and book arts supplies smiling at the camera

Composite of three photos of BookMakers attendees; two are showing off colorful prints they made on the BookBeetle press next to the press, and the 3rd photo shows a table full of folks and book arts supplies smiling at the camera

#Cville region folks, missing (or excited to learn more about) book arts? Drop in for BookMakers: every Wednesday 5:30-7:30pm (downtown JMRL Madison Rm) for friendly, free printing, bookbinding, zine, etc. text art community. Open to all: bring your own project, or try out the BookBeetle press! +

15.09.2025 12:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
Still from a video of a Vandercook printing press (a large, grey metal floorsize proofing press roughly shaped like a kitchen island with a crank attached) being moved on a large cart, outside a red brick building.

Still from a video of a Vandercook printing press (a large, grey metal floorsize proofing press roughly shaped like a kitchen island with a crank attached) being moved on a large cart, outside a red brick building.

Photo of Virginia Book Arts Exec Office Kevin McFadden clapping while looking at a sucessfully moved Vandercook printing press (a large, grey metal floorsize proofing press roughly shaped like a kitchen island with a crank attached). It's in a room in the process of having equipment moved into it, with grey-painted concrete floor and red brick and white-painted wood walls.

Photo of Virginia Book Arts Exec Office Kevin McFadden clapping while looking at a sucessfully moved Vandercook printing press (a large, grey metal floorsize proofing press roughly shaped like a kitchen island with a crank attached). It's in a room in the process of having equipment moved into it, with grey-painted concrete floor and red brick and white-painted wood walls.

Virginia Book Arts members clean the new printshop and bindery space before move in, scrubbing windows and using a long yellow pole to change lightbulbs in the high ceilings. It's in a room with no equipment in it yet, with unpainted concrete floor and red brick and white-painted wood walls, one window in view, and lit by natural lights from other windows and door outside the photo edges.

Virginia Book Arts members clean the new printshop and bindery space before move in, scrubbing windows and using a long yellow pole to change lightbulbs in the high ceilings. It's in a room with no equipment in it yet, with unpainted concrete floor and red brick and white-painted wood walls, one window in view, and lit by natural lights from other windows and door outside the photo edges.

Photo from inside the new printshop space through frosted glass doors to the outside; natural light glows through, and a tree, grass, and Water St are visible. Someone is crouched behind the frosted glass working on cleaning the door.

Photo from inside the new printshop space through frosted glass doors to the outside; natural light glows through, and a tree, grass, and Water St are visible. Someone is crouched behind the frosted glass working on cleaning the door.

The Vandercooks have landed! ๐Ÿ›ฌVolunteers have been hard at work cleaning, painting, & moving our printshop & bindery equipment into our new space. Next up: unpacking & planning everything up through reopening (membership, open house, workshops...). Sign up at bottom of vabookarts.org for updates!

15.09.2025 11:52 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Virginia Book Arts โ€“ Creating, Collaborating, Teaching, and Preserving Book Arts and Letterpress Printing

We're delighted to share we're now a member-run non-profit w/a new Cville location, + our new Insta (www.instagram.com/vabookarts/) & website (vabookarts.org)! Scroll to the bottom on the latter for listserv signup, to hear when we're ready to open & offer events, & ways you can help.

01.09.2025 15:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Letterpress typecase handles & labels are their own little bits of art:

04.08.2025 15:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 33    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Photo grid showing photos of a variety of letterpress typecases each painted a different bright color; they look like wide shallow painted-wood drawers with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Photo grid showing photos of a variety of letterpress typecases each painted a different bright color; they look like wide shallow painted-wood drawers with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Photo of a letterpress typecase painted bright yellow; it looks like a wide shallow painted-wood drawer with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Photo of a letterpress typecase painted bright yellow; it looks like a wide shallow painted-wood drawer with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Photo of a letterpress typecase painted deep red and olive green; it looks like a wide shallow painted-wood drawer with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Photo of a letterpress typecase painted deep red and olive green; it looks like a wide shallow painted-wood drawer with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Photo of a letterpress typecase painted bright red and steel blue; it looks like a wide shallow painted-wood drawer with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Photo of a letterpress typecase painted bright red and steel blue; it looks like a wide shallow painted-wood drawer with 60+ different small niches for various pieces of type

Working on photographing @virginiabookarts.bsky.social's type collection yesterday with @josefbeery.bsky.social, I realized there's a plain-looking type cabinet where someone had painted just the insides of each typecase/drawer a different bright color ๐ŸŒˆ

04.08.2025 15:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
Screenshot of a webpage showing various colored charts and stats that summarize the Virginia Book Arts' large type collection. The stats are: "Total type count (Discrete typeface + size + variant): 374" [note that this is only the type in numbered cases, not the huge collection of additional type in various other drawers and galleys, such as a collection of European wood type, and a huge amount of unopene foundry type packs], "# of unique type families (e.g. Caslon, Bodoni, etc.): 72", "Photographed types (I.e. a photo of this type in its case is in the database): 43", "Photos of type printed (Examples of how type at this size appears when printed): 2". There is a pie chart showing "Proportion of type materials in collection" with 85.9% lead type, 13.9% wood type, and 1 3d-printed item. A bar chart shows "Common Variants (For the most common variants in our type collection, # of types with that variant)", with different lines for how much italic, bold, etc. variants of type the collection contains, with around 25 variants listed. A bar chart for "Collection type: sizes (# of typefaces in the indicated size)" shows that 18pt type is the most common lead type size in the collection, and 15 pica is the most common wood type size in the collection.

Screenshot of a webpage showing various colored charts and stats that summarize the Virginia Book Arts' large type collection. The stats are: "Total type count (Discrete typeface + size + variant): 374" [note that this is only the type in numbered cases, not the huge collection of additional type in various other drawers and galleys, such as a collection of European wood type, and a huge amount of unopene foundry type packs], "# of unique type families (e.g. Caslon, Bodoni, etc.): 72", "Photographed types (I.e. a photo of this type in its case is in the database): 43", "Photos of type printed (Examples of how type at this size appears when printed): 2". There is a pie chart showing "Proportion of type materials in collection" with 85.9% lead type, 13.9% wood type, and 1 3d-printed item. A bar chart shows "Common Variants (For the most common variants in our type collection, # of types with that variant)", with different lines for how much italic, bold, etc. variants of type the collection contains, with around 25 variants listed. A bar chart for "Collection type: sizes (# of typefaces in the indicated size)" shows that 18pt type is the most common lead type size in the collection, and 15 pica is the most common wood type size in the collection.

A screenshot of part of an Airtable database (looks like a spreadsheet with color-pill entries) documenting some of the details for some of Virginia Book Arts' type collection, such as type family and variant, point size, and type material.

A screenshot of part of an Airtable database (looks like a spreadsheet with color-pill entries) documenting some of the details for some of Virginia Book Arts' type collection, such as type family and variant, point size, and type material.

A screenshot of part of an Airtable database (looks like a spreadsheet with color-pill entries) documenting some of the details for some of Virginia Book Arts' type collection, so zoomed out to show all ~30 metadata columns that it's difficult to read anything. There is still a lot of info to fill in, but there are places for photos, documenting the history of how VBA acquired and used the type, and other social info as well as many details about particular typefaces (what they are, how they look, how well they print)

A screenshot of part of an Airtable database (looks like a spreadsheet with color-pill entries) documenting some of the details for some of Virginia Book Arts' type collection, so zoomed out to show all ~30 metadata columns that it's difficult to read anything. There is still a lot of info to fill in, but there are places for photos, documenting the history of how VBA acquired and used the type, and other social info as well as many details about particular typefaces (what they are, how they look, how well they print)

Lets us see % wood vs metal type, counts of the various typefaces, frequency of various point sizes. Going to work w/@josefbeery.bsky.social to document the type's use history, quirks, condition. Hoping to add photos of prints made w/as much of our type as I can, to show what to expect.

02.08.2025 10:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Screenshot of a grid photo gallery of drawers of wood letterpress type, with around 30 drawers of brown and black and yellow wood type, sans and san serif, varius typefaces shown

Screenshot of a grid photo gallery of drawers of wood letterpress type, with around 30 drawers of brown and black and yellow wood type, sans and san serif, varius typefaces shown

Photo of a letterpress typecase (wide, shallow drawer) pulled out from its cabinet to show the 2" tall wooden letters (in a medieval typeface called "Abbey Text") it organizes

Photo of a letterpress typecase (wide, shallow drawer) pulled out from its cabinet to show the 2" tall wooden letters (in a medieval typeface called "Abbey Text") it organizes

Screenshot of a list of the metadata fields in a database named "Moveable type"; the fields are: Case # Legacy label Point size SPiF font genre Other notes Type style/variant Type family Warnings Acquisition & history Material Contents type General typeface history Case notes Letter, Hamilton Number... Qs from Amanda ID Case photo Case photo date Case photo notes Photos of type (non-case) Photos of printed type Source of core data Photos of type (non-cas.. Photos of printed type n... Status Final status decision Similar typeface? Proposed fate Fate reason(s) Sans vs Serif

Screenshot of a list of the metadata fields in a database named "Moveable type"; the fields are: Case # Legacy label Point size SPiF font genre Other notes Type style/variant Type family Warnings Acquisition & history Material Contents type General typeface history Case notes Letter, Hamilton Number... Qs from Amanda ID Case photo Case photo date Case photo notes Photos of type (non-case) Photos of printed type Source of core data Photos of type (non-cas.. Photos of printed type n... Status Final status decision Similar typeface? Proposed fate Fate reason(s) Sans vs Serif

I'm making a database+photo gallery for @virginiabookarts.bsky.social's big (370+!) wood+lead letterpress type collection, before it's packed up: pull out+photo each case, add descriptive data to Airtable db based on others' existing typeface+variant+pointsize list+I added 27 more metadata fields ๐Ÿ™€+

02.08.2025 10:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 38    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Studio Two Three 'supports art making for personal+social change...the role of the arts in civic voice+engagement, partnering w/activists+leaders to provide space for creative advocacy initiatives' (www.studiotwothree.org/our-mission). ๐Ÿ’œ their charter (I see some #DHmakes values there!):

02.08.2025 08:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

@virginiabookarts is following 20 prominent accounts