The handy book of artistic printing : a collection of letterpress examples, with specimens of type, ornament, corner fills, borders, twisters, wrinklers, and other freaks of fancy

232 Pages·2009·26.973 MB·English

by  Doug Clouse, Angela Voulangas

THE HANDY BOOK Of ARTISTIC PRINTING

HANDY BOOK
THE Of
Artistic Printing
A ColleCtion of letterpress e xAmples
wITH SPECImENS Of
Type, OrnamenT, COrner Fills, BOrders, TwisTers, wrinklers,
AND OTHER
FreAKs OF FANcY.
Doug Clouse angela Voulangas
by anD
Princeton ArchitecturAl Press • new York
Published by No part of this book may be used Special thanks to: Nettie Aljian, Sara Bader, Nicola Bednarek, Janet Behning,
Princeton Architectural Press or reproduced in any manner Becca Casbon, Carina Cha, Penny (Yuen Pik) Chu, Carolyn Deuschle, Russell
37 East Seventh Street without written permission from the Fernandez, Pete Fitzpatrick, Wendy Fuller, Jan Haux, Clare Jacobson, Aileen
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Visit our web site at made to identify owners of copyright.
www.papress.com Errors or omissions will be corrected
in subsequent editions.
© 2009 Doug Clouse and
Angela Voulangas Editing: Nancy Eklund Later
All rights reserved Design: Doug Clouse and
Printed and bound in China Angela Voulangas
12 11 10 09 4 3 2 1 First edition
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clouse, Doug.
The handy book of artistic printing : a collection of letterpress
examples, with specimens of type, ornament, corner fills,
borders, twisters, and other freaks of fancy / by Doug Clouse &
Angela Voulangas.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-56898-705-7 (alk. paper)
1. Letterpress printing—United States—History—19th century. 2. Graphic
design (Typography)—United States—History—19th century. 3. Type and type
founding—United States—Samples. 4. Printers’ ornaments—United
States—Samples. I. Voulangas, Angela. II. Title.
Z208.C58 2009
686.2’312—dc22
2008039574
INTRODuCTION page 11
Artistic printing is defined
CHAPTER 1 page 15
BECOmING “ARTISTIC”
Britain and America partake of design reform...aesthetic considerations gladden the home and the page...
printing aspires to heights of artistry and taste...America excels
CHAPTER 2 page 35
ELEmENTS Of ARTISTIC PRINTING
Distinctive fittings and appointments of the practice materialize...
composition compartmentalizes...typefaces and ornaments abound...
novel colors and experimental printing processes proliferate
page 57
SPECImENS
Diverse samples of artistic printing, gleaned from the best sources,
are described and celebrated
CHAPTER 3 page 167
“QuITE TOO AwfuL”
Critics express distaste and level judgment against the style...in a turn of events,
printing calls upon the imprimatur of history
CHAPTER 4 page 179
THE ETHICS Of ORNAmENT
Freaks and caprices are decried...popular taste is disdained...ornament is questioned...
anxieties weigh heavy and contamination is feared
CONCLuSION page 195
Ornament is reclaimed
NOTES and BIBLIOGRAPHY page 203
Numerous citations of import, expert sources, arcana, are presented for the reader’s edification
APPENDIx page 209
A selection of typefaces is included for contemplation and emulation
ACKNOwLEDGmENTS
This book could not have come into being without the
generosity of the stewards of archives in New York City
and New Haven. J. Fernando Peña of The Grolier Club
of New York and Jae Jennifer Rossman of the Arts of the
Book Collection at Yale University’s Sterling Memorial
Library helped us to acquire images. Robert Warner
of Bowne & Co. Stationers, part of the South Street
Seaport Museum, showed us the mechanics, quirks,
and possibilities of letterpress printing and made the
museum’s library available to us. Stephen Saxe was
exceptionally generous in opening his home and making
his invaluable collection available to curious inquirers.
Wayne Furman and David Smith eased research at
the New York Public Library.
Friends kindly donated their expertise: Tom
McWilliam tutored us in photography; Paul D’Agostino
and, especially, Robert Wright, provided photographic
ingenuity; Sam Markham led us to image sources; Rita
Jules entered text corrections; and Diane DeBlois at the
This chapter head from Bright
Ephemera Society of America introduced us to helpful and Happy Homes: A Household
Guide and Companion, by Peter
collectors of artistic printing. Steven Heller kindly
Parley, Jr., (1881), represents
offered advice and inspired us to persevere. artistic printing’s predilection
for borders, compartmentalized
Finally, while we know how fiercely independent
pattern, and in-filled ornament.
nineteenth-century America believed itself to be in
The modern, layered arrangement
matters of artistic printing, these two Americans are
of ornamental borders (overleaf
greatly indebted to the British Printing Historical left), culled from the Printers’
International Specimen Exchanges
Society for having faith in our project and awarding us
(1880–98), would likely have
much needed funds to continue. been viewed as ill-considered and
unfinished to the nineteenth-
century eye. Similarly, a page
from Specimens of Printing Types,
Borders, Cuts, Rules, &c., by the
MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan type
foundry (1868; overleaf, right)
and featuring ornament ganged
up and arranged for selling,
seems oddly composed by
today’s standards.