Dear Hand Papermaking Community,

Written by Rosa Chang, Executive Director

‍

Season’s Greetings! I hope this message finds you well. My name is Rosa Chang, and my journey with Hand Papermaking began years ago when I first encountered the publication during art school. As a fiber artist, I was immediately drawn to its rich content, celebrating the traditions, artistry, and stories of handmade paper. Today, I am honored to lead this incredible organization as the new Executive Director and personally reach out to you, one of our valued supporters.

For nearly four decades, Hand Papermaking has been dedicated to preserving and sharing the diverse and vibrant stories of handmade paper. Your involvement—whether through renewing your subscription, reading our magazine or newsletter, participating in auctions, engaging with us on social media, or exploring our paper portfolios—has been essential to our success.

This past year has been one of growth and transformation for Hand Papermaking with my onboarding. We've enhanced and expanded our social media presence to reach new audiences as well as to provide new content to existing followers. We achieved a significant milestone by increasing our subscription base to its highest levels in years. Additionally, we hosted our annual auction on a new platform, Givebutter, allowing us to engage with more supporters than ever before.

As we look toward the future, we invite you to join us in celebrating the continued evolution of Hand Papermaking. Your generous year-end contribution will play a critical role in advancing our mission to promote both traditional and contemporary approaches to the art of handmade paper.

Here’s how you can help:

Donate online: Visit our website and click the ‘Donate’ button at the top right.

Or mail a check: Send your contribution to Hand Papermaking, PO Box 50336, Baltimore, MD 21211.

This year, we’re thrilled to offer two special tokens of appreciation for your support:

- For donations of $100 or more: Receive a limited-edition keepsake celebrating the first hand papermaking mill established in British North America in 1690. Produced in 2022 by Robert Hauser of Busyhaus Publications, this handsome collection includes a handmade sheet featuring historic watermarks, a wood engraving print on vintage handmade Twinrocker paper, and a handmade paper specimen made at the Historic Rittenhouse Town Papermaking Studio in Philadelphia.

‍

- For donations of $175 or more: Receive an exclusive broadside (your choice!) from the Hand Papermaking archive. Once you make your donation, we will provide you with a discount code via follow-up email so you can make your own selection at our online shop.

‍

- For donations of $250 or more: Receive both a Rittenhouse Keepsake and an exclusive broadside from the Hand Papermaking archive.

Every gift, no matter the size, helps us continue our work of promoting, preserving, and inspiring innovation in the craft of handmade paper. Your support ensures that we can help to keep this rich tradition alive for future generations.Thank you for considering making a year-end donation and for being a part of the Hand Papermaking community.

Warmest regards,

Rosa Chang  

Executive Director, Hand Papermaking  

‍

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHT: WILLIAM & KLAUS RITTENHOUSE

FIRST HAND PAPERMAKERS IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 1690.

by Robert Hauser of Busyhaus Publication 2022-2024

‍

The Keepsake is about the history and three paper watermarks used by William and Klaus Rittenhouse. In 1690 they established the first hand papermaking mill in the British Colonies of North America near Germantown, Pennsylvania. Keepsake is comprised of two 1 x 8 1⁄2" folios or eight pages that includes a title page, introduction page with watermark notes, list of contributors, selected bibliography and colophon. In addition, the three illustrated watermarks are those used in the making of the 10 x 13" folio handmade watermarked sheets from 1969-1970 by John Boyd, a former papermaking student at Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Two period metal monotype cast typefaces were composed, and letterpress printed by John Kristensen of the Firefly Press, Boston. Paper selected for printing the Keepsake was a machine-made Classics Laid Baronial Ivory Paper by the Neenah Paper Company. The paper is an archival cover weight eighty-pound paper with laid wire watermarking reminiscent of traditional handmade laid papers.

One page features a tipped-on wood engraving print measuring 5 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄4 "by the late Michael McCurdy and letterpress printed by him. The engraving depicts William and Klaus Rittenhouse at their mill making handmade paper. The paper for the engraving was handmade by the publisher in 1973 with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts at the Twinrocker Paper Mill, Brookston, Indiana.
This same page includes authentic reproduced signatures by each of the Rittenhouse papermakers and a varied tipped-on 2 × 2 1⁄2" handmade paper specimen donated and made by staff and students at the Historic Rittenhouse Town Papermaking Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Inserted within the Keepsake is an illustrated brochure about the origins of this historic institution and site of the first hand papermaking mill. The Keepsake contents are placed in a 9 x 12" blue booklet envelope for safe handling and mailing purposes.

‍

‍

‍

‍