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The story of the
Specimen Exchange involves
the development of new
machinery and processes,
“Old Style” vs. “Artistic”
printing, the histories of
the two innovative printing
houses that managed the
Exchange, cooperation and conflict among outsize personalities, and the extraordinary
efforts of a few talented and dedicated people. The history of the Specimen Exchange
also involves a Victorian-style hostile takeover and a separate breach-of-contract court
case.
Fall 2012 Catalogue 3
The Rise and Fall of the Printers’
International Specimen Exchange
by Matthew McLennan Young
The Rise and Fall of the Printers’ International Specimen
Exchange is the first in-depth study of an institution whose goal
was nothing less than a renaissance of fine printing at a time when
quantity mattered far more than quality. The Printers’ International
Specimen Exchange was founded in 1880, first and foremost as a
means to encourage British printers to improve their technical and
artistic skills, which lagged far behind those of their American and
European counterparts. It came to be a far more international and
influential institution than its originators imagined, its 16 volumes
including the work of more than 1,000 printing establishments (and
several times that number of contributors, including employees and
apprentices) from 28 different nations.
The Specimen Exchange is a record of a remarkable period in letterpress and lithographic
printing. As a subscription publication distributed primarily to contributors,
only a few hundred copies of each volume were
issued, and many of the specimens were produced
expressly for the Exchange. Consequently,
some of the examples reproduced in this book
have not been seen before outside the original volumes, and the selection presented
here should delight any printing historian or admirer of good graphic design. This
book includes 81 full-page reproductions of some of the best specimens, in a wide
range of styles and from many countries.
Matthew McLennan Young is a practicing graphic designer and book collector,
and the author of a previous study, Field & Tuer, the Leadenhall Press, (Oak Knoll
Press and the British Library, 2010) that earned positive reviews in the TLS, the
Book Collector and elsewhere. He has presented papers on the Printers’ International
Specimen Exchange, the Caxton Celebration of 1877, and the Leadenhall Press at various
conferences. He and his wife, Valerie, live in Hopewell, New Jersey.
2012, hardcover, dust jacket, 8.5 x 11 inches, 160 pages
ISBN 9781584563099, Order No. 108704, $59.95
Order by phone Available at 800-996-2556 online at www.oakknoll.com/fall2012
or by email at oakknoll@oakknoll.com