Written by Guy Robertson, originally appearing in ELAN, number 74/Fall 2023 Franz Hals’s “Laughing Cavalier” gazes at us from his portrait in the Great Gallery in London’s Wallace Collection, and delivers what many consider the haughtiest smirk in 17th century Dutch art. We accept the Mona Lisa’s demi-smile as a perpetual mystery, but the Cavalier’s expression makes us want to defy him. In fact he is not laughing. His long, upturned moustache amplifies his arrogant grin. “He’s a toff who needs a sharp slap,” says a Canadian art history student who visits the Wallace Collection regularly. “His ..read more

The Board of Directors of the Alcuin Society is pleased to announce that Michael Torosian has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Robert R. Reid Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Book Arts in Canada. As the proprietor of Lumiere Press, founded in 1981, Michael has been responsible for the text, design, type setting, hand printing, and hand binding of the press’s editions. Throughout the course of his career, Michael has received numerous awards and honours, including Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada and two Chalmers Arts Fellowships as well as prizes fr ..read more

Alcuin Society’s 36 best-designed Canadian books of 2023 can now be viewed here. This year’s judges, Naomi MacDougall, Paul Razzell and Mark Goldstein, selected 36 winning titles from 206 submissions, from 8 provinces and 78 publishers on March 20, 2023. What follows are domestic exhibitions (to be announced) and those at the Frankfurt (October 16–20, 2024) and Leipzig (March 27–30, 2025) Book Fairs. We are also working on Alcuin Awards Catalogue which will be mailed to winners, Alcuin members and certain amount of copies will be available at the exibition venues. Browse: Winners Jury Exhibit ..read more

On March 20 we had a pleasure of hosting the first live lecture ever since the pandemic. You can now watch it on our Youtube channel. View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize ..read more

Wayzgoose 2024 is on its way! Grimsby Public Art Gallery 18 Carnegie Lane Grimsby, Ontario Saturday, April 27 9AM – 5PM Learn more   ..read more

March 12, 2024 at 7pm BCIT Downtown, Vancouver For more information and to register, visit typebrigade.com ..read more

On February 7, 2024, twelve members of the Alcuin Society gathered for dinner at the Shaughnessy Restaurant in Vancouver's VanDusen Garden to honour the Canadian calligrapher Martin Jackson and to award him the Robert R. Reid Medal for lifetime achievement in the book arts in Canada. After dinner, Richard Hopkins, Vice-Chair of the Society, following a brief presentation talk by Ralph Stanton, an Alcuin Board member, presented the award. Also present was the well-known calligrapher Renée Alexander who was responsible for the beautiful blue calligraphy on the certificate presented to  ..read more

Now open! Robertson Davies Library (Lower Level) at Massey College, University of Toronto 4 Devonshire Place Toronto A Printer’s Voice: The Balinson Jewish Type Collection, an exhibition curated by Leora Bromberg (Acquisitions Specialist, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and Printing Apprentice Emerita, Bibliography Room, Massey College). The current exhibition at the Robertson Davies Library celebrates the Balinson Jewish Type Collection, a remarkable and rare example of local Yiddish tangible heritage. Visit in person in the lower library at Massey College and stay tuned for the digital exh ..read more

The following interview with Martin Jackson is from the Westcoast Calligraphy Society’s journal Illuminations (Issue 132, November 2020). It is reprinted here with permission of the Westcoast Calligraphy Society. Photo: © Martin Jackson Q: When did you start your journey with calligraphy? I was around 13 or 14 years old when I saw a letter written to my parents from an uncle, it was so beautiful. I asked my mother about it and she told me it was called italics, and that uncle Geoffrey was an after teacher and a calligrapher. Later in life I asked him how he learned italics and he told me he t ..read more

In November and December, the team at the Université du Québec à Montréal organized an exhibition showcasing the winners of the 2022 Alcuin Awards. Professor Mélissa Pilon and design students Félix Richer-Beaulieu, Camille Bichet and David Diaz Mendez created the beautiful graphic identity. Alcuin logo created by Hypercodex. The exhibition itself was a joint effort of Hypercodex (led by professors Judith Poirier and Amandine Alessandraof UQAM School of Design) and Bibliothèques de l'UQAM. The roundtable, which took part at the UQAM’s Central Library, presented five guest: Audrey Beaul ..read more