September 2012 | Rebecca Rego Barry

Oak Knoll Fest XVII

Coming up in just a couple of weeks--make your plans now, if you haven't--is the Oak Knoll Fest, a bi-annual celebration of book arts, fine press, and beautiful books held in and around Oak Knoll Books in New Castle, Delaware. This year's weekend-long event boasts a Friday symposium titled, "The Fine Book in the 21st Century -- Yes, It Will Survive!", that will explore the future of typography and fine printing. This event is currently full, but the rest of the weekend is booked with free lectures, exhibits, and sales.

On Saturday, Oct. 6, the Fest continues with a talk by book designer and calligrapher Jerry Kelly, followed by Daniel De Simone, curator of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection of the Library of Congress, who will discuss color printing in early books. The afternoon offers a fine press exhibition and sale, with exhibitors that include the Fine Press Book Association, Ladies of Letterpress, Russell Maret, Midnight Paper Sales (Gaylord Schanilec), Lead Graffiti, and many more (full list is here). On Sunday, you can head back to the fine press exhibition after Carol Grossman gives a talk on George Macy and the Limited Editions Club.

What a line-up! And did we mention that all weekend Oak Knoll holds its own shop sale, offering 20% off everything in the store? The Oak Knoll Fest only comes around once every two years, so if you can make the trip, carpe diem!