The 2nd Annual Valentine Broadside Printing Event

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Join us for our second annual celebration of the renovationof the library’s Albion handpress and experience letterpress printingfirsthand on Saturday, February 2, 2013, from 2-4 pm in the Book Arts & Special Collections / SF History Center on the 6th floor of the Main Library.
Under the expert supervision of local printers Fred Voltmer, NormanMcKnight and Alan Dye, participants will be invited to pull a proof on ourantique printing press and take away a valentine--to keep for yourself or giveto your sweetheart. Last year, kids and grown-ups alike, waited their turn totry operating the machine. Everyone left with a keepsake and a smile.

Last year's event--February 4, 2012--Bryan Ferrett, Alan Dye, Lisa Dunseth, Fred Voltmer andNorman McKnight with broadside.

The Albion Press at the San Francisco Public Library standsat the entrance to the Book Arts & Special Collections room which housesthe Robert Grabhorn Collection on the History of Printing and the Development of the Book. It is an iconic reminder of the relevance of printing to ourreading lives. Albionsare early iron hand printing presses, originally designed and manufactured inLondon around 1820.The Library acquired its press from Margaretta Mitchell in1999.She and her husband, Frederick C. Mitchell, purchased it in London, shipped itvia the Panama Canal to California, and printed on it for over forty years.
Come enjoy this rare opportunity to see and experience ahand printing press in action.  Broadsides will be limited to the first 100 people.