Antiques Prints Blog

I am starting this blog as a place where I can share news and ideas about a subject that provides me with both an occupation and an avocation, and as a forum for those interested in antique prints. The subjects will be somewhat arbitrary, inspired by experiences I have, new prints that come our way, questions we receive from the public, or new books I read. I will also post information on current events and books related to antique prints. The opinions expressed in the blog will be mine and should not be taken as reflecting official positions by the Philadelphia Print Shop nor any organization I am a member of. This is intended to be a non-commercial blog for the education and enjoyment of anyone interested in antique prints.

The theme of the blog is “antique prints,” and by that I mean to focus on original prints from the seventeenth to early twentieth century. I am using “original print” in the sense described in the Print Shop's on-line reference library as a print where the matrix was produced by hand, as opposed to by some photomechanical process. While I will not rule out any topics within this broad spectrum of prints, I will focus on historical prints from the eighteenth and nineteenth century, and more often than not on American subjects. The topic of antique maps might also appear from time to time. The subjects of the blog will reflect my personal biases, but if a reader would like me to post on a particular subject, I will certainly consider any suggestions.

So why start such a blog? I have a professional and personal desire to spark interest in and spread knowledge of antique prints, and in today’s world a blog seems to be an efficient way to do this. I have reasonable credentials to write a blog on antique prints, as I have been a print seller and researcher for over 25 years, and I have written and lectured extensively on the subject. Also, at the Philadelphia Print Shop I come into constant contact with a wide variety of different types of prints, people with extensive knowledge and different ideas, and much research from books and magazines, and so I am well positioned to be able to share this experience. Finally, I going to maintain this blog because I love what I do and it is fun to share with those who share my enthusiasms. I hope this blog will be interesting and enjoyable for its readers.

Among the topics I plan to include in the blog are

• Thoughts on print subjects that interest me
  
• Descriptions of unusual prints we come across
  
• Answers to questions we are asked by clients and the general public through our web site
  
• Announcements and a listing of print events
  
• Announcements and comments on new print reference books & articles
  
• Profiles on important print collections in North America
  
• Anything else print related I think interesting (please send suggestions!)
  

I will keep the blog as up-to-date as possible, with a minimum of a new post a week. Comments on the posts are welcome, though I will require a reasonable level civility and profanity will not be allowed. Please remember that this is a web blog, not an academic tome, and so there will inevitably be mistakes, conceptual and grammatical. In order to keep the posts coming on a regular basis, I cannot check and recheck everything I write. I will try to be as accurate as possible, but corrections are always welcome. Finally, I encourage readers to send suggestions for topics, send me questions I can answer on the blog, and keep me informed on new articles & books and forthcoming print events. You can email me at philaprint@philaprintshop.com