Samuel Antupit papers related to printing

The Samuel Antupit papers related to printing date from 1938 to 2003. These papers document Antupit’s life and work as a letterpress printer through his work as proprietor of Cycling Frog Press and his relationship with other printers. The collection is organized into four series: Samuel Antupit working files, Robert M. Jones and Glad Hand Press, Reference materials relating to typesetting and graphic design, and Samples and catalogs from other letterpresses.

Series I, Samuel Antupit working files, comprises materials related to the business operations and print products of Cycling Frog Press. Most materials are related to printing projects completed by the press including samples, mockups, photographs, audiovisual materials, photoengravings, proofs, and final printings. Some materials are related to general operations including correspondence, inventories, and outside articles about the press.

Included in Series I is original art, photoengravings, and digital files related to collaborations between Cycling Frog Press and CommonPlace Publishing. This includes materials and final booklets from Stars, The Year of the Goose, James Agee’s Knoxville: Summer 1915, and annual holiday letterpress chapbooks featuring illustrations by Charles (Chas) B. Slackman.

Series I includes materials related to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) USA Fellowship project “The Storyteller’s Art: Native American Fables and Drawings.” Antupit received the grant for the project in 1989. The product of “The Storyteller’s Art” project was small books written and illustrated by Native American storytellers. “The Storyteller’s Art” materials include published copies of How the Parrots Came To Be At Acoma and Lifting the Sky, production materials, mock-ups, galley proofs, grant forms, expense reports, contracts, correspondence, and research files on different regions of the United States. There are also original art pieces, photographs (prints, slides, and negatives) of the storytellers, and audiocassette tapes of the interviews with the storytellers. Storytellers and artists include Wanda Aragon, Vi Hilbert, Maggie Necefer, Betty Mae Jumper, and Gregory Colfax.

Series I also includes materials related to the Westchester Chappel, a Westchester County, New York, association of avocational letterpress printers founded in 1960. This includes keepsakes and printed materials distributed by the chappel and materials printed for the chappel by Cycling Frog.

Series II, Robert M. Jones and Glad Hand Press, contains materials related to Robert M. Jones and Glad Hand Press compiled and collected by Antupit and spanning the dates 1983-1993. Robert M. Jones (1913-1993), an art director for RCA and Columbia Records and a collector of wood engravings, founded Glad Hand Press in 1953 and operated it out of his home in Stamford, Connecticut. This series comprises materials written and published for Glad Hand Press by Jones and materials printed for outside creators. It also contains correspondence written by Jones and sent to Antupit. Printed materials include single printed pages, bound books, pamphlets, ephemera, and type examples. In addition, this collection contains a wood block with the Glad Hand Press mark designed by John DePol. Finally, in this series is a collection of memorial materials following Jones’ passing in early 1993.

Series III, Reference materials relating to typesetting and graphic design, contains typesetting booklets, graphic design publications which include references to Antupit, and the contents of a leather travel case. The case includes typesetting booklets, scrap working materials, and correspondence dated 1949 to 1954.

Series IV, Samples and catalogs from other letterpresses, contains a variety of letterpress-printed materials and catalogs from other avocational letterpresses, collected by Samuel Antupit. Some of the larger collections of materials in this series come from presses such as the Glad Hand Press, the Antique Press, and the Foolproof Press. Materials include invitations to events, creative pieces, and catalogs of letterpress materials. When known, materials are grouped alphabetically by their press of creation. If no press is known, pieces are grouped by printer name. Pieces with no identified printer or press are grouped together.