Type & Typography: Highlights from Matrix, the review for printers and bibliophiles

408 Pages·2003·29.118 MB·English

by  Matrix

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Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/typetypographyhiOOOOunse

TYPE & TYPOGRAPHY

Type
&'
Typography
,
Highlights from Matrix the review
for printers and bibliophiles
Thomas J. Bata library
TRENT UNIVERSITY
PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
MARK BATTY PUBLISHER•LLC
West New York, New Jersey
2003
2. ISO , A / / Hoo3
The articles in this book are collected from the first 20 years of the annual publication
Matrix: a Review for Printers and Bibliophiles
The Introduction for this edition © 2003 John D. Beny
‘The Genesis of Matrix’ © John Randle
Matrix 1981 - 2003 © The Whittington Press
Lower Marston Farm, Risbury, Herefordshire, U.K.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be
used, reproduced, stored, transmitted or copied in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior written permission, except in the case of brief
excerpts embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Every effort has been made to trace accurate ownership of copyrighted text and visual material used
in this book. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions, provided notification is
sent to the publisher.
Special thanks to Adobe Systems for assistance with type for this book.
Special thanks to Tim Johnson, Special Collections Rare Books Department; and Chuck Thomas,
Digital Collections Unit, who with Erin Bender, Ahn Na Brodie, and Phil Dudas supplied digital materi¬
als used in the design of the book. The Whittington Press archives are housed at the Elmer Anderson
Library at the University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis, MN.
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data:
Type <&r typography: highlights from Matrix, the review for printers and bibliophiles,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-9715687-G-6 (alk. paper) - ISBN 0-9724240-8-3 (special ed.: alk. paper)
L Type and type-founding History. 2. Type designers - History. 3. Printing - History.
I. Title: Type and typography. II. Matrix.
Z250.A2T95 2003
G86.2'21 - dc21
2003004228
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom.
First Edition
10 987654321
This edition © 2003
Mark Batty Publisher, LLC
Tower West Suite 2H
6050 Boulevard East
West New York, NJ 07093 USA
www.MarkBattyPublisher.com
ISBN: 0-9715687-G-6 Liard Cover
ISBN: 0-9724240-8-3 Special Edition
Table of Contents
John D. Berry INTRODUCTION xi
John Randle THE GENESIS OF MATRIX xvii
Brooke Crutchley Logic, Lucidity, and Mr Morison l
Stanley Morison was more responsible than anyone else for the revival of both type design
and typography in the first half of the 20th century. Brooke Crutchley’s essay in Matrix 5
(1985) shows how Morison was a major force in favor of functionality and simplicity in
printed work.
John Dreyfus The Typographical Importance of Maximilien Vox 15
John Dreyfus, the successor to Stanley Morison as typographic advisor to Monotype,
was well positioned to appreciate and convey, in Matrix 17 (1997) the importance of the
seminal French designer, organizer, and publisher, Maximilien Vox.
Sebastian Carter Victor Hammer 29
Victor Hammer followed his own way in type design and cut his own punches, perfecting
the little-used uncial style of letter and employing it in brilliantly designed books. The
superior quality of his work inspired Sebastian Carter’s overview in Matrix 7 (1987).
Christopher Skelton Eric Gill’s Typography Examined 41
Eric Gill’s Essay on Typography, first published in 1931, reflected his attitude toward work
and society while attempting to be a practical handbook at the same time. In Matrix 7
(1987) Christopher Skelton looked at both the book itself and its impact.
Sebastian Carter The Types of Jan van Krimpen 51
In contrast to Gill, Jan van Krimpen wanted control over every aspect of the typefaces he
designed, and he resisted all compromise in their manufacture. Sebastian Carter’s survey in
Matrix 12 (1992) puts the effort in perspective.
Jan van Krimpen On Preparing Designs for Monotype Faces 59
Jan van Krimpen took a very critical look at the process of converting foundry type to
machine composition. He helped Monotype create a revival of the classic Dutch types of
Van Dijck, but later decided it had been a bad idea. In this essay, originally published in the
1950s and reprinted in Matrix 11 (1991), he explains why.
Type & Typography: A Matrix Anthology
Dan Carr Making' a Visible Spirit: Cutting the Regulus Punches by Hand 71
Dan Carr works in the tradition of type designers who cut their own punches, and he is
one of the craftsmen learning and preserving this tradition today. In this essay from Matrix
16 (1996), he has a bone to pick with digital type.
Alan Dodson A Type for All Seasons 81
The types of William Caslon have been in almost continuous use since the 18th century,
and they have practically defined straightforward, workmanlike printing in England. In
Matrix 13 (1993) Alan Dodson explains the history of this typeface and its many variants
and revivals.
Justin Howes The Compleat Caslon 93
By the time of Matrix 17 (1997), Justin Howes was well on his way to delivering a complete
revival of Caslon’s typefaces as a family of digital fonts. He explains the genesis of this pro¬
ject which puts the original Caslon typefaces back into the hands of book designers as a
digital tool.
Sebastian Carter Type for Books, and Books for Type 101
In Matrix 18 (1998), on the centenary of the Monotype Corporation, Sebastian Carter
wrote this account of the unique period when Monotype brought out an unprecedented
series of new and revived typefaces for machine composition.
Brooke Crutchley Types for Books at Cambridge, 1923-45 117
Brooke Crutchle/s careful look, in Matrix 8 (1988), at the role of the Cambridge University
Press in the typographic renaissance that began in the 1920s details the complementary
relationship between Cambridge and Monotype, and the books that were the fruit of that
union.
James Mosley Eric Gill and the Golden Cockerel Type 131
One of the earliest subjects covered in Matrix, in the second issue (1982), was the elegant
typeface that the protean Englishman Eric Gill created for the Golden Cockerel Press.
James Mosley describes how Gill came to create this uniquely "robust" typeface for the
press’s proprietor, Robert Gibbings.
Christopher Sandford A Note on the Golden Cockerel Type 13s
Christopher Sandford took over the Golden Cockerel Press from Robert Gibbings in 1933
and this first-hand account of the press’s later years, also from Matrix 2 (1982), serves to
set the scene lor the digital revival of the press’s proprietary type.
Roderick Cave Saving Face: the ITC Golden Cockerel Type 143
The creation of ITC Golden Cockerel was an important project in the digital revival of
typefaces originally created by hand in metal. In Matrix 17 (1997), Roderick Cave describes
how Eric Gill’s well-known but rarely available typeface was converted into a new medium.