#percy smith

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The Birth Of A Flower | F. Percy Smith (1910)

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Percy Smith, Birth of a Flower, 1910 :: my gifs

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“Let people realize clearly that every time they threaten someone or humiliate or unnecessarily hurt or dominate or reject another human being, they become forces for the creation of psychopathology, even if these be small forces. Let them recognize that every person who is kind, helpful, decent, psychologically democratic, affectionate, and warm, is a psychotheraputic force.”

- Abraham Maslow

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Percy Smith, Birth of a Flower, 1910

my gifs

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Typography Tuesday

PRINTERS’ FLOWERS

A few weeks ago we presented a specimen sheet of historic types collected and printed by the English type and printing enthusiast Mark Arman. This week we are showing some specimen sheets of printers’ flowers collected by Arman and handprinted in an edition of 1000 at his Workshop Press in Thaxted, Essex, for his article on “A Collection of Printers’ Flowers” published in Matrix 9, Winter 1989, pp. 92-96. Of his collecting of these type ornaments, Arman writes:

The collector is attracted to those things that are difficult to find: the magpie delights in accumulating treasures; what is known to be rare is prized. Thus the typographer who begins with an interest in type is in danger of becoming a collector, and his discoveries may lead him to collecting printers’ flowers. This is precisely what happened to me, as my collection began modestly in 1949 and now has developed beyond the confines of reason.

Arman has printed a description below each specimen. Shown here from top to bottom are:

1.) 15th-century-style arabesques and moresques recut in the 20th century by Monotype Corporation. 2.) 18th-century Fournier-style type ornaments recut by Monotype. 3.) Late 19th-century decorative type issued by Stephenson Blake. 4.) 20th-century decorative type designed by Percy Smith and Edward Bawden for the Curwen Press.

Arman’s process for making these 2-color prints is to raise the non-black type above the other type by placing 3-pt. leads underneath them, so that during inking only the raised type gets inked and may be printed in red or blue. After printing the full run, those printed type forms are removed and replaced by quads and other spacers which rest below the type that remains, so that only that type gets inked and printed in black on the next run.

Matrix was printed by John and Rosalind Randle at the Whittington Press in England, and is a donation from our friend Jerry Buff.

View more posts from Matrix.

View other posts relating to the Whittington Press.

View our other Typography Tuesday posts

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The Birth of a flower, percy smith (1910)

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Typography Tuesday

THE CURWEN PRESS TYPES AND BORDERS

The Curwen Press was found in 1863 by Rev, John Curwen, originally to print music. His grandson Harold Curwen took control of the business in 1916 and was soon joined by Oliver Simon in 1920, transforming what was essentially a family job-printing business into a notable fine-press publishing enterprise. The two made a great impact on the typographic world of the 1920s, with their well-designed types and borders, fine illustration work, and their attention to design and color. The Press maintained its reputation for quality until it closed its doors in 1984, with its considerable collection passing to Cambridge University Library, including much of its distinguished stock of type. Much of the credit for rescuing the types from the melting pot goes to Ian Mortimer, artist, designer, printer, and proprietor of I. M. Imprimit in London.

The selection displayed here of borders and typefaces from the Curwen Press were compiled and proofed from the original types by Ian Mortimer, printed offset by Adrian Lack at the Senecio Press, and were inserted as part of John Dreyfus’s article “The Curwen Press Collection in Cambridge University Library” in Matrix 5, Winter 1985, pp. 23-33. All the borders shown here were commissioned by Curwen for its exclusive use. The typefaces also include some exclusive designs, such as Curwen Sans designed by Harold Curwen, initials by Jan Van Krimpen and Percy Smith, and some typefaces particularly associated with the Press, such as Walbaum. 

Borders and typeface names, along with their designers are printed beneath each specimen. Besides Curwen, Van Krimpen, and Smith, other designers of note whose designs are displayed here include Albert Auspurg, Henry Ball, Edward Bawden, Harry Carter, Rudolf Koch, and Paul Nash.

Matrix 5 was printed in October 1985 by John and Rosalind Randle at the Whittington Press in Andoversford, Gloucestershire, in an edition of 715 copies, and is another fine donation from our friend Jerry Buff.

View other posts relating to the Curwen Press.

View more posts from Matrix.

View other posts relating to the Whittington Press.

View our other Typography Tuesday posts.

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Percy Smith, Birth of a Flower, 1910

my gifs

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The Dance of Death, 1914-1918 by Percy Smith