Hybrid Workshop: Pressing the Past: Materials, Markets and Meaning, Library of Congress

April 22, 2026

The African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) invites for a two-day workshop on printing in African, Hebraic, and Middle Eastern Languages. The workshop convenes specialists in book history, bibliography, conservation, and cultural history to examine the emergence and development of printing in African, Hebraic, and Middle Eastern languages during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Drawing on textual and material evidence, participants will investigate the full range of the printed book’s life cycle – from the physical properties of ink, paper, and type design to the commercial networks that governed trade, distribution, and readership. Attention will also be given to the social and intellectual conditions that shaped editorial practice, patronage, and the dissemination of texts to diverse audiences

Registration in person: http://go.loc.gov/70WH50YEGTT

Registration for Zoom: http://go.loc.gov/3ymC50YFe7O

May 4-5, 2026 | From 4:00 pm / 3:30 pm CET | Hybrid

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