The Hebrew letterforms featured on the exhibition poster are reproduced digitally from prints of Balinson’s actual 12-line wood type held in the library’s collection.
On display in the Robertson Davies Library, Massey College (University of Toronto), January-May 2024. Features a selection of reproductions of archival records courtesy of the Ontario Jewish Archives.
For more information on locating the library and in-person exhibition: https://www.masseycollege.ca/library/exhibitions/
Interactive digital experience coming soon: www.balinsontypecase.ca
The Bibliography & Print Room at Massey College (Robertson Davies Library) is home to a hidden gem of Canadian Jewish print culture: The Balinson Jewish Type Collection. Comprising 11 different fonts of metal type and 3 fonts of wood type, this represents the most comprehensive collection of Hebrew type in Canada. But this type was not primarily used to print in Hebrew—it was formerly used by Henry Balinson (1888-1961) to print the first and only Yiddish newspaper published in Hamilton, Ontario. From traces of Balinson’s print shop to recent printing projects created using his type, this exhibition celebrates Balinson’s type as a remarkable and rare example of local Yiddish tangible heritage and demonstrates that the best way to preserve his type and honour its legacy is through use.
The digital exhibition will also invite visitors to learn the Hebrew/Yiddish alphabet and type case lay as they explore the collection.
A Printer’s Voice: The Balinson Jewish Type Collection — The Alcuin Society
Designed and curated an exhibition on behalf of the University of Toronto Archives (UTARMS) in partnership with the University of Toronto Master of Museum Studies Program.
Onwards: The University of Toronto Through Times of Change
Exhibition portfolio:
Onwards: The University of Toronto Through Times of Change
As featured in the Faculty of Information's Informed Magazine (No. 71, Summer 2021), pages 20-21: