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judge not a book by its cover, 1938

john averill

#judge not a book by its cover #john averill

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There is something immediately appealing and joyful about these images. Horses and birds, what’s not to like? These are two pamphlets created by John Averill for the Typophiles and their Monographs series. They are another special part of the soon to be cataloged donation from our friend Jerry Buff.

From a December 1949 article in American Artist I learned that John Averill was a commercial artist and printer, who grew up with “a dash of printer’s ink” in his blood. In an effort to keep John from the influence of the “toughs” in the neighborhood, his father made him a printer’s devil. John did not miss playing ball outside; he found the printers and the work much more interesting. He cut his teeth on a composing stick and enjoyed the wonderful tales the printers told of their travels and their loves even if he didn’t fully understand them at the time.

He studied briefly at the Chicago Academy and worked hard at his drawing, but typography was his love. He worked with Sears, Roebuck and Company, Campbell Ross Studios, Lakeside Press, and the Mills Novelty Company doing design, layout, and lettering. As a freelance commercial artist he would drum up business by sending out samples of his art printed by commercial printers. After seeing an ad in a national publication, he made a $50.00 investment in a small handpress and a set of type of his own and realized the freedom of doing his own printing. As an extension of his attic studio, Molehill Press was born and soon grew with the addition of a vintage platen press. Averill wrote an article for the December 1952 issue of American Artist in which he clearly expressed the joy he felt in printing. This joy comes through in his light-hearted writing style and whimsical linocuts.

Averill had a supportive wife, daughter, and many friends in the printing and design business. He was appreciative of the lessons he learned from his fellow artists and seemed content playing with ink and type in his studio.

From the Colophon of Typophile Monograph 24: “Should this copy, one of 325 printed for the Typophiles at the Molehill Press, be in perfect register, properly inked, without offset or thumb prints and reasonably well bound, it is to be considered purely coincidental. Printed after hours on a Jones clamshell press that escaped the scrap drives of two world wars.”

-Alison