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 Above: Portraits of John Fass. From his youth to his middle age.  (Born 1890 - Died 1973)

 

Below:  Photography and handpress printing by John Fass

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This website is an exhibition of two collections of John Fass materials.

Part One: Photography by John Fass: This collection of photographs consists  of images shot by John Fass, from 1914 to the 1960s. Included are color transparencies (slides) and black-and-white prints. Plus there are a few photographs by A. Burton Carnes, as identified in the captions.

 This photography collection was sold in the 1970s in John's hometown of Lititz, PA, at the estate auction of his sister Esther Wert. The photographs were purchased at that auction by a collector in Lititz. I purchased the photographs from that collector this year, 2011.

All the images in the first half of this website are included in that photography collection, in the section titled "Part One: Photography by John Fass."

Part Two: John's Printing and Publishing: This collection of books and printed ephemera was assembled by John Fass, primarily in the 1920s and 1930s.

Included are many items designed, printed, or published by John Fass. Plus there are papers associated with other 20th century fine-press printers, which John collected for his archive.

Today these papers are in the collection of the Lititz Museum, in John's hometown of Lititz, PA.  All the items in the second half of this website (Part Two) are in the museum's collection, except a few items as noted on those pages. An inventory of the John Fass papers at the Lititz Musuem is here.

 

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Above:  John Fass' Kodachrome transparencies       (Size: 1-7/8 inches square)


John shot most of his color photographs with 35 millimeter transparency film (slide film), including 1940s Kodachrome. His best images are as carefully composed as his letterpress designs, with meticulous attention to detail. I digitally enhanced the two Kodachrome slides, above, to show the format of these vintage transparencies.

 

External Links:

 

  • My other website: The Black Art: History of Printing in Lancaster County, PA  Here
  • Another of my websites: The Photography of Dillman Bomberger,  Lititz, Lancaster County, PA  Here
  • More of my websites: Lititz Mennonite Farms Here,  and The Hess Homestead in Lititz  Here
  • Lititz Museum and the Lititz Historical Foundation  Here 
  • Photography by John Fass at the New York Public Library  Here  
  • John Fass' Hammer Creek Press books at the New York Public Library  Here
  • John Fass' printed works at the University of San Francisco  Here 
  • John Fass and Roland Wood's Harbor Press books at Amherst College Library  Here
  • An Exhibition of John Fass' Letterpress Art on Flickr  Here
  • John Fass items in the John DePol Collection at the University of Delaware  Here
  • John Fass article on Wikipedia  Here
  • Inventory of the John Fass papers at the Lititz Museum  Here

 

My contact information:

Lee J. Stoltzfus
27 Lititz Run Road
Lititz, PA 17543

Cell: 717-371-7320

Email: [email protected]

Thanks to Cory Van Brookhoven and the staff of the Lititz Museum for assisting my research of the museum's John Fass archive. Images in Part Two of this website are of items in the museum's collection, as described above.