Week 9 The Arts and Crafts Movement and its Heritage - A History of ...

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Chapter 10 – The Arts and Crafts Movement and Its Heritage
SUMMARY
As the nineteenth century wore on, the quality of book design became a casualty of the Industrial Revolution (with
some notable exceptions, such as William Pickering’s edition of Oliver Byrne’s The Elements of Euclid, in which color
replaced alphabet labeling to identify lines, shapes, and forms in the geometry lessons). Toward the end of the century,
however, a book design renaissance was underway, which reunited book design and production. Largely a result of
the Arts and Crafts movement, which was inspired by writer and artist John Ruskin, this revival was a reaction against
the social, moral, and artistic confusion of the Industrial Revolution. William Morris was a pivotal figure in the Arts and
Crafts movement. His deep concern about the problems of industrialization and the factory system led him to implement
Ruskin’s ideas and to address the tastelessness of mass-produced goods and the lack of honest craftsmanship
through a reunion of art and craft.
During this period a number of societies and guilds
emerged whose members sought to establish democratic
artistic communities united for the common good.
Among the most important was the Century Guild, led
by Arthur H. Mackmurdo, which was established in 1882
with the aim to elevate the design arts. The Century
Guild Hobby Horse featured the work of guild members
and was the first printed magazine devoted exclusively
to the visual arts. A harbinger of the growing Arts and
Crafts interest in typography, graphic design, and printing,
the Hobby Horse was painstakingly produced under
the tutelage of master printer and typographer Sir Emery
Walker, whose careful layout and typesetting, handmade
paper, and intricate woodblock illustrations proclaimed
the philosophy and goals of the guild. The Century
Guild evolved a new design aesthetic that incorporated
Renaissance and Japanese design ideas and bridged the
Arts and Crafts movement and the floral stylization of art
nouveau.
Committed to recapturing the beauty of the incunabula
books, Morris founded a private press called Kelmscott
Press, where he designed his three typefaces—Golden,
based on the Venetian roman faces of Nicolas Jenson;
Troy, a black-letter typeface based on the incunabula
Gothic types of Peter Schoeffer, Anton Koberger, and
Günther Zainer; and Chaucer, a smaller version of Troy.
Following the practice of earlier times, each typeface was
designed and produced for a specific Kelmscott edition.
At Kelmscott the book became an art form whose elements
were unified by a strong sense of design. Meticulous
hand-printing and handmade paper combined with
beautiful typeface designs, hand-cut woodblocks, initials,
frames, and borders inspired a whole new generation of
book designers.
Other private presses that were established in Europe
included, in England, Essex House Press, founded by
Charles R. Ashbee; Doves Press, established by T. J.
Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker; Ashendene Press,
directed by C. H. St. John Hornby; and, in France, Eragny
Press, run by Lucien and Esther Pissarro. Innovations
included Essex House Press’s Psalter of 1902, for which
Ashbee developed a graphic system that ensured unity
of design between typography, layout, and ornament.
In 1903 Doves Press rejected illustration and ornament
when it printed the Doves Press Bible, a remarkably
beautiful typographic book. Lucien and Esther Pissarro
collaborated on designing, wood engraving, and printing
Eragny Press books, which combined the traditional
sensibilities of the private press movement with an
interest in the blossoming art nouveau movement and
expressionism. American Elbert Hubbard brought the
Arts and Crafts movement to the United States when he
established Roycroft Press and Roycroft Shops in East
Aurora, New York.
Additional contributions to book design and typography
covered in this chapter occurred in the Netherlands,
Germany, and the United States. In the Netherlands,
Sjoerd H. De Roos, Jan van Krimpen, J. F. van Royen,
and master printer-publishers Charles Nypels and A. A.
M. Stols fostered a renaissance in Dutch typography.
They sought to revive printing arts through a return
to traditional standards. De Roos based his design of
Hollandsche Mediaeval, the first typeface designed
and produced in the Netherlands for over a century, on
fifteenth-century Venetian types. He also wrote many
articles on type design and typography. Van Krimpen

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
became the preeminent book designer in his generation,
and he designed typefaces exclusively for book typography.
In Germany, type designer Rudolph Koch, who
became closely associated with Klingspor Type Foundry,
built upon the calligraphic tradition. His type designs
ranged from original interpretations of medieval letterforms
to unexpected new designs, such as the roughhewn
Neuland face. In the United States, type designer
Frederic W. Goudy designed 122 typefaces, including the
Goudy type family. A staunch traditionalist, many of his
typefaces were based on Venetian and French Renaissance
type designs. He had a long association with the
Lanston Monotype Company. William Addison Dwiggins,
who designed Caledonia, one of the most widely used
book faces in America, established a book design style
for Alfred A. Knopf publishing company, and was the
first to use the term “graphic designer” to describe his
professional activities. Influenced by the Kelmscott Press
books, Bruce Rogers applied the ideal of the beautifully
designed book to commercial production. His 1915 typeface
Centaur was inspired by the work of Nicolas Jenson.
He referred to design as a decision-making process: the
culmination of subtle choices that can combine to create
either a unity or a disaster.
The American Type Founders (ATF) Company established
an extensive library and played a major role in reviving
past designs. Morris F. Benton, head of typeface development
at ATF, designed important typeface revivals, such
as Bodoni, Garamond, and the Cloister family based
on Jenson. After carefully studying human perception
and reading comprehension, Benton developed Century
Schoolbook for use in textbooks.
KEY TERMS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE; THE FIRST PAGE NUMBER OF THEIR APPEARANCE IS LISTED)
The Elements of Euclid, page 176, written by Oliver Byrne. William Pickering’s edition is a landmark in book design.
Diagrams and symbols are woodblock printed in brilliant primary colors; color replaces traditional alphabet labeling to
identify the lines, shapes, and forms in the geometry lessons. The dynamic color and crisp structures anticipate geometric
abstract art of the twentieth century (Figs. 10-2 and 10-3).
Arts and Crafts Movement, page 176, This movement flourished in England during the last decades of the nineteenth
century as a reaction against the social, moral, and artistic confusion of the Industrial Revolution. Design and a return
to handicraft were advocated, and the “cheap and nasty” mass-produced goods of the Victorian era were abhorred.
The leader of this movement in England was William Morris, who called for a fitness of purpose, truth to the nature of
materials and methods of production, and individual expression by both designer and worker.
Red House, page 177, a South East London landmark in domestic architecture designed by Phillip Webb for William
Morris and his wife. Instead of featuring rooms in a rectangular box behind a symmetrical facade, the house had an
L-shaped plan that grew out of functional interior space planning. When it came time to furnish the interior, Morris designed
and supervised the execution of furniture, stained glass, and tapestries for the house.
Societies and guilds, page 179, sought to establish democratic artistic communities united for the common good. These
ranged from exhibition cooperatives to communes based on socialist and religious ideals.
Century Guild, page 179, a youthful group of artists and designers, led by Arthur Mackmurdo, who banded together in
1882 with the goal “to render all branches of art the sphere, no longer of the tradesman, but of the artist…” and aimed to
elevate the design arts to “their rightful place beside painting and sculpture.” The group evolved a new design aesthetic
incorporating Renaissance and Japanese design ideas into their work. Their designs provide a bridge between the Arts
and Crafts movement and the floral stylization of art nouveau. Began publication of The Century Guild Hobby Horse
in 1884. The first finely printed magazine devoted exclusively to the visual arts, it sought to proclaim their philosophy
and goals. Although it received ample commissions, they disbanded in 1888; emphasis had been upon collaborative
projects, but the members had become more preoccupied with their individual work (Figs. 10-8 through 10-11).
The Century Guild Hobby Horse, page 179, began publication in 1884 by the Century Guild as the first finely printed
magazine devoted exclusively to the visual arts. The medieval passions of the Arts and Crafts movement were reflected
in the graphic designs of Selwyn Image and Herbert Horne. It sought to proclaim the philosophy and goals of the Cen-

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
tury Guild. Its careful layout and typesetting, handmade paper, and intricate woodblock illustrations made it the harbinger
of the growing Arts and Crafts interest in typography, graphic design, and printing. It was the first 1880s periodical
to introduce the British Arts and Crafts viewpoint to a European audience and to treat printing as a serious design form
(Figs. 10-9 through 10-11).
Wren’s City Churches, page 179, an 1883 book in which the title page, designed by Arthur Mackmurdo, introduced abstract
intertwining floral patterns (Fig. 10-6).
Private press movement, page 179, a design and printing movement advocating an aesthetic concern for the design and
production of beautiful books. It sought to regain the design standards, high-quality materials, and careful workmanship
of printing that existed before the Industrial Revolution.
Art Workers Guild, page 181, combined in 1884 of a number of groups and individuals concerned with the craft revival.
The guild’s activities were expanded in 1888, when a splinter group formed the Combined Arts Society, elected Walter
Crane as its first president, and planned to sponsor exhibitions.
Combined Arts Society, page 181, a splinter group from the Art Workers Guild formed in 1884, it elected Walter Crane
as its first president and planned to sponsor exhibitions. By the October 1888 opening of the first exhibition, the name
had been changed to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, page 181, renamed from the Combined Arts Society. Held exhibitions featuring
demonstrations and lectures in 1888, including William Morris on tapestry weaving, Walter Crane on design, and Emery
Walker on book design and printing.
Kelmscott Press, page 181, a printing enterprise started by William Morris, located in a rented cottage near Kelmscott
Manor in Hammersmith, which he had purchased as a country home. Its first production was The Story of the Glittering
Plain by William Morris, with illustrations by Walter Crane. Its most outstanding volume is the ambitious, 556-page
Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, with eighty-seven woodcut illustrations from drawings by Burne-Jones and fourteen large
borders and eighteen smaller frames around the illustrations cut from designs by Morris. The press was committed to
recapturing the beauty of incunabula books with meticulous hand-printing, handmade paper, hand-cut woodblocks,
and initials and borders similar to those used by Ratdolt. From 1891 until the company disbanded in 1898 (two years
after Morris’s death), over eighteen thousand volumes of fifty-three different titles were produced (Figs. 10-16 through
10-21).
Golden typeface, page 181, William Morris’ first typeface, which was originally meant to be used in his edition of The
Golden Legend, by Jacobus de Voragine, printed as his first book. This typeface was based on the Venetian roman faces
designed by Nicolas Jenson between 1470 and 1476, and was designed to capture the essence of Jenson’s work but
not slavishly copy it.
Troy typeface, page 171, a remarkably legible black-letter typeface designed by William Morris for The Story of the Glittering
Plain. Inspired by the incunabula Gothic types of Peter Schoeffer, Anton Koberger, and Günther Zainer. Morris
made the characters wider than most Gothic types, increased the differences between similar characters, and made the
curved characters rounder (Fig. 10-17).
Chaucer typeface, page 183, a smaller version of Troy, designed by William Morris. The last of Morris’s three typeface
designs, which stirred a renewed interest in Jenson and Gothic styles and inspired a number of other versions in Europe
and America.
Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, page 183, the most outstanding volume from the Kelmscott Press. An ambitious 556-page
book with eighty-seven woodcut illustrations from drawings by Burne-Jones and fourteen large borders and eighteen
smaller frames around the illustrations cut from designs by Morris. Morris designed over two hundred initial letters and
words for use in this Kelmscott edition, which was printed in black and red in large folio size. This was the final achievement
of Morris’s career (Figs. 10-19 through 10-21).
Essex House, page 185, an old Georgian mansion leased by the Guild of Handicraft. Charles Ashbee hired key personnel
from the Kelmscott Press to purchase the equipment that was available for sale and to form the Essex House Press.

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Essex House Press, page 185: Started in an old Georgian mansion called the Essex House, Charles Ashbee hired key
personnel from the Kelmscott Press to purchase the equipment that was available for sale and to form his own press.
The Psalter of 1902 was the design masterpiece of this press.
Psalter of 1902, page 185, this was the design masterpiece of the Essex House Press. The text is in vernacular sixteenthcentury
English from the c. 1540 translation of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury. Charles Ashbee developed
a graphic program for each psalm consisting of a roman numeral, the Latin title in red capitals, an English descriptive
title in black capitals, an illustrated woodcut initial, and the body of the psalm. Verses were separated by woodcut leaf
ornaments printed in red (Fig. 10-25).
Doves Press, page 185, started by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker, who set out to “attack the problem of pure
Typography” with the view that “the whole duty of Typography is to communicate to the imagination, without loss by
the way, the thought or image intended to be conveyed by the Author.” Books from this press, including its monumental
masterpiece, the 1903 Doves Press Bible, are remarkably beautiful typographic books. Illustration and ornament were
rejected in the approximately fifty volumes produced there using fine paper, perfect presswork, and exquisite type and
spacing (Fig. 10-26).
Doves Press Bible, page 185, A monumental masterpiece by Doves Press, this was an entirely typographic book that
used a few striking initials designed by Edward Johnston (Fig. 10-26).
Ashendene Press, page 186, Established in 1895 and directed by C. H. St. John Hornby of London, this proved an exceptional
private press. The type designed here was inspired by the semi-Gothic types used by Conrad Sweynheym and
Arnold Pannartz in Subiaco. It possessed a ringing elegance and straightforward legibility with modest weight differences
between the thick and thin strokes and a slightly compressed letter (Fig. 10-27).
Roycroft Press and Roycroft Shops, page 186, Established by Elbert Hubbard in East Aurora, New York, the Roycroft
Press and Roycroft Shops became popular tourist attractions where four hundred employees produced artistic home
furnishings, copperware, leather goods, and printed materials.
Eragny Press, page 187, Established by Lucien Pissarro and his wife Esther Bensusan in 1894 and named after the Normandy
village where Lucien was born and studied with his father. They collaborated on designing, wood engraving,
and printing books; many had three- and four-color woodblock prints produced from his artwork. Lucien designed the
Brook typeface for this press. They were inspired by both the past and the present; their books combined the traditional
sensibilities of the private press movement with an interest in the blossoming art nouveau movement and expressionism
(Fig. 10-30).
Brook typeface, page 187, designed by Lucien Pissarro for his Eragny Press, drawing inspiration from Nicolas Jenson.
German Arts and Crafts, page 187, In Germany the influence of William Morris inspired a renaissance of arts-and-crafts
activities, new typefaces, and a significant improvement in book design.
Netherlands Arts and Crafts, page 187, The traditional vanguard was led by Sjoerd H. De Roos and the brilliant Jan van
Krimpen. They were followed by J. F. van Royen and two master printer-publishers from Maastricht, Charles Nypels and
A. A. M. Stols. They sought to revive the printing arts through a return to traditional standards. Their guidelines included
symmetrical layouts, tranquil harmony and balance, careful margin proportions, proper letter and word spacing, single
traditional typefaces in as few sizes as possible, and skillful letterpress printing. They believed a typographer should
serve the text first and otherwise stay in the background.
Lutetia typeface, page 189, the first typeface Jan van Krimpen designed during his thirty-five-year association with
the Haarlem printer Enschedé. Het zatte Hart (The Drunken Heart) was the only book in the Palladium series set in this
typeface (Fig. 10-33).
De Zilverdistel, page 191, a private press at The Hague. Two typefaces were specifically commissioned for this press. The
first was De Roos’s Zilvertype, which was basically an updated version of Hollandsche Mediaeval. The second, Disteltype,
a modern interpretation of the Carolingian minuscule, was designed by Lucien Pissarro.
De Kunera Pers (The Kunera Press), page 191, the new name given to the De Zilverdistel press by Jean François van

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Royen.
Camelot typeface, page 192, developed by Goudy. His pencil drawing of capitals was mailed to the Dickinson Type
Foundry of Boston with an offer to sell the design for five dollars. After a week or two, a check for ten dollars in payment
for the design arrived.
Camelot Press, page 192, Goudy’s first press company, established with a friend in 1894.
Booklet Press, page 192, Goudy’s second short-lived press company, started in 1895.
Village Press, page 191, Goudy’s third press company, modeled on the private press handicraft ideal. It was first moved
to Boston, then to New York, where a fire completely destroyed it in 1908 (Fig. 10-40).
Village Letter Foundry, page 192, established by Goudy in 1923 in an old mill on the Hudson River, where he became
a successful independent type designer who cut matrixes, then cast and sold type. In 1939 a second disastrous fire
burned the mill to the ground.
Graphic designer, page 192, term first used by William Addison Dwiggins to describe his professional activities as a
book designer.
Caledonia typeface, page 192, one of the most widely used typefaces in American designed by William Addison Dwiggins
in 1938.
Riverside Press, page 192, part of the Houghton Mifflin Company, joined by Bruce Rogers in 1896. It established a special
department for high-quality limited editions in 1900 with Rogers as its designer for sixty limited editions during the
following twelve years.
Centaur typeface, page 192, designed by Bruce Rogers in 1915. One of the finest of the numerous fonts inspired by
Jenson, it was first used in The Centaur by Maurice de Guerin (Fig. 10- 42).
American Type Founders Company (ATF), page 195, established an extensive typographic research library and played
an important role in reviving past designs in the United States. Its head of typeface development, Morris F. Benton,
designed important revivals of Bodoni and Garamond (Fig. 10 -46).
Cloister family, page 195, Morris Benton’s revival of Nicolas Jenson’s type (Fig. 10-47).
Cheltenham family, page 195, over two dozen typefaces developed by Morris Benton that began as one typeface by
architect Bertram Goodhue.
Century Schoolbook typeface, page 195, Morris Benton carefully studied human perception and reading comprehension
to develop this typeface, designed for and widely used in textbooks (Fig. 10-47).
KEY PEOPLE AND THEIR MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE; THE FIRST PAGE NUMBER OF THEIR
APPEARANCE IS LISTED)
William Pickering (1796–1854), page 176, played an important role in the separation of graphic design from printing
production. His passion for design led him to commission new woodblock ornaments, initials, and illustrations as he
maintained control over the format design, type selection, illustrations, and all other visual considerations. A cordial
working relationship between publisher/designer and printer was established with Charles Whittingham of the Chiswick
Press. With his fifty-three-volume series Aldine Poets, his designs moved toward classic simplicity, and he revived
Gothic form with his liturgical books, including the 1844 Book of Common Prayer. Color replaced traditional alphabet
labeling to identify the lines, shapes, and forms in the geometry lessons in his edition of Oliver Byrne’s The Elements
of Euclid (Figs. 10-1 through 10-3).
William Morris (1834–1896), page 177, the leader of the English Arts and Crafts movement who called for a fitness of

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purpose, truth to the nature of materials and methods of production, and individual expression by both designer and
worker. A pivotal figure in the history of design who proved to be a brilliant two-dimensional pattern designer. He married
Jane Burden, daughter of an Oxford stableman, and during the process of establishing their home, Red House,
he suddenly discovered the appalling state of Victorian product and furniture design. Over the next several years, he
designed and supervised the execution of furniture, stained glass, and tapestries for Red House. He established the artdecorating
firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company, which began to assemble teams of craftsmen that eventually
included furniture and cabinetmakers, weavers and dyers, stained glass fabricators, and potters and tile makers.
His 1883 fabric design Rose demonstrates his close study of botany and drawing fluency; his willowy patterns wove
decorative arabesques of natural forms. He tried to implement John Ruskin’s ideas: that art and craft could combine
to create beautiful objects, from buildings to bedding. A moral concern over the exploitation of the poor led him to
embrace socialism. He began working on typeface design in the late 1800s. Morris started Kelmscott Press, which produced
his Golden, Troy, and Chaucer typefaces, and was also responsible for printing The Story of the Glittering Plain
and the ambitious 556-page Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. He sought refuge in the handicraft of the past, and developed
design attitudes that charted the future by calling for workmanship, truth to materials, making the utilitarian beautiful,
and fitness of design to function (Figs. 10-3, 10-5 and 10-16 through 10-21).
John Ruskin (1819–1900), page 177, The writer and artist who inspired the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts Movement
by rejecting the mercantile economy and pointing toward the union of art and labor in service to society, as exemplified
in the design and construction of the medieval Gothic cathedral. He became concerned for social justice, advocating
improved housing for industrial workers, a national education system, and retirement benefits for the elderly.
Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898), page 177, a lifelong friend of William Morris, whom he met at Exeter College, Oxford.
He became a painter and worked on illustrations for books printed by the Kelmscott Press, including eighty-seven
woodcut illustrations in the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.
Philip Webb (1831–1915), page 177, young architect and supervisor of William Morris at the Oxford architectural office of
G. E. Street. Designed Red House for Morris and his wife, a landmark in domestic architecture.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), page 177, pre-Raphaelite painter who influenced William Morris and Edward Burne-
Jones.
Arthur H. Mackmurdo (1851–1942), page 179, a twenty-six-year-old architect who met William Morris and was inspired
by his ideas and accomplishments in applied design. In London, he led a youthful group of artists and designers who
banded together in 1882 to establish the Century Guild, including designer/illustrator Selwyn Image and designer/writer
Herbert R Horne. Contributed several designs with swirling organic forms that are pure art nouveau in their conception
and execution. He first explored abstract intertwining floral patterns in an 1881 carved chair back, and the 1883 title
page for his book Wren’s City Churches was followed by fabric designs, the Century Guild trademark, and Hobby Horse
graphics (Figs. 10-6 through 10-9).
Selwyn Image (1849–1930), page 179, Century Guild designer/illustrator. The medieval passions of the Arts and Crafts
movement were reflected in his graphic designs. He passionately argued that all forms of visual expression deserved
the status of art by suggesting that “the unknown inventor of patterns to decorate a wall or a water-pot” who “employs
himself in representing abstract lines and masses” deserves equal claim to being called an artist as the painter Raphael.
He designed typefaces, innumerable illustrations, mosaics, stained glass, and embroidery (Figs. 10-10 and 10-11).
Herbert R. Horne (1864–1916), page 179, Century Guild designer/writer. The medieval passions of the Arts and Crafts
movement were reflected in his graphic designs. He designed books with classic simplicity and restraint. His educational
background had included typesetting, and his layouts have a precise sense of alignment, proportion, and balance
(Figs. 10-12, 10-14 and 10-15).
Sir Emery Walker (1851–1933), page 179, master printer and typographer at the Chiswick Press. Oversaw the production
of The Hobby Horse. Advocating a unity of design, Walker told an audience in his lecture on November 15, 1888, “the
ornament, whatever it is, picture or pattern-work, should form part of the page, should be part of the whole scheme of
the book.” Walker considered book design similar to architecture, for only careful planning of every aspect—paper, ink,
type, spacing, margins, illustration, and ornament—could result in a design unity. Joined T. J. Cobden-Sanderson in

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establishing the Doves Press at Hammersmith.
Walter Crane, page 181, became the first president of the Combined Arts Society, which was later renamed the Arts and
Crafts Exhibition Society. Spoke on design in exhibitions held in 1888. Also produced illustrations for The Story of the
Glittering Plain by William Morris (Figs. 10-13, 10-17 and 10-22).
William H. Hooper (1834–1912), page 183, a master craftsman lured from his retirement to work at the Kelmscott Press
to engrave on wood decorative borders and initials designed by William Morris.
Charles R. Ashbee (1863–1942), page 185, architect, graphic designer, jeweler, and silversmith who founded the Guild of
Handicraft in 1888 with three members and only fifty pounds British sterling as working capital. Its School of Handicraft
unified the teaching of design and theory with workshop experience and sought to restore the holistic experience of
apprenticeship, which had been destroyed by the subdivision of labor and machine production. A Ruskin follower, he
went furthest in establishing an idyllic workshop paradise and became a major English voice calling for integration of
art and industry in a later era.
T. J. Cobden-Sanderson (1840–1922), page 185, a bookbinder who joined Emery Walker in establishing the Doves Press
at Hammersmith. They set out to “attack the problem of pure Typography” with the view that “the whole duty of Typography
is to communicate to the imagination, without loss by the way, the thought or image intended to be conveyed
by the Author” (Fig. 10-26).
Edward Johnston (1872–1944), page 185, This master calligrapher of the Arts and Crafts movement had been inspired
by William Morris and abandoned his medical studies for the life of a scribe. Johnston’s study of pen techniques and
early manuscripts, as well as his teaching activities, made him a major influence on the art of letters. He designed a few
striking initials in the 1903 Doves Press Bible (Fig. 10-26).
C. H. St. John Hornby, page 186, directed the Ashendene Press (Fig. 10-27).
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915), page 186, met William Morris in 1894. Established his Roycroft Press (printing) and Roycroft
Shops (handicrafts) in East Aurora, New York.
Lucien Pissarro (1863–1944), page 187, learned drawing from his father, the impressionist painter Camille Pissarro,
then apprenticed as a wood engraver and illustrator under the renowned book illustrator Auguste Lepère. He married
Esther Bensusan. Captivated by Kelmscott books, in 1894 they together established the Eragny Press (named after the
Normandy village where he was born and studied with his father) and collaborated on designing, wood engraving, and
printing Eragny Press books; many had three- and four-color woodblock prints produced from his artwork. He designed
his Brook typeface for their press, drawing inspiration from Nicolas Jenson (Fig. 10-30).
Sjoerd H. De Roos, page 187, was convinced that the typeface was the foundation of sound book design, and that ideally
it should be practical, beautiful, and easily readable. The Type Foundry Amsterdam issued his Hollandsche Mediaeval,
a text face in ten sizes based on fifteenth-century Venetian types. This was the first typeface designed and produced in
the Netherlands for over a century, and for at least ten years was one of the most popular faces available. Between 1907
and 1942 he published 193 articles on type design and typography and also worked for a number of clients, one of the
most important being the progressive Rotterdam publisher W. L. and J. Brusse (Fig 10-31).
Jan van Krimpen (1892–1958), page 187, attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, and soon after became
the preeminent book designer of his generation in the Netherlands. Roland Hoist inaugurated the twenty-one-book
Palladium series in which Het zatte Hart (The Drunken Heart) demonstrated his deft drawing and use of initial letters;
it is the only book in the Palladium series set in his own face, Lutetia. He believed the reader should never even be
conscious of typography; the designer’s one purpose was to make reading as pleasurable as possible and never come
between the reader and the text (Figs. 10-32 and 10-33).
Charles Nypels (1895–1952), page 188, In 1917 he was officially hired by his family firm, Leiter-Nypels, becoming a partner
in 1920. He had a fresh approach, evidenced by his title and text pages, his use of color, and his initial letters. The
finest example of his earlier work is the Constantijn Huygens’s ’t Voorhout ende ’t Kostelich Mal (The Voorhout and the
Delightful Comedy), 1927. Published in four sections between 1929 and 1931, Don Quichotte shows him at his elegant

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best, and exceptional initials by De Roos added the finishing touch (Figs. 10-34 and 10-35).
A. M. (Sander) Stols (1900–1973), page 188, committed to high design standards, his doctrine was simplicity and maximum
legibility, and his work was noted for its constrained classical typography and craftsmanship. He preferred typefaces
such as Garamond and Bembo, but on a number of occasions he used De Roos’s typefaces Hollandsche Mediaeval
and Erasmus Mediaeval. He described the designer’s role as, “Providing the form in which a book will be printed…
the designer must never-the-less satisfy a number of requirements for the book, knowledge of its history and technology,
artistry and taste, and Insight as to production costs. In short all those factors which make it possible to make a
written text into a printed book that satisfy the greatest demands of legibility” (Fig. 10-36).
Jean François van Royen, (1878–1942), page 191, Although a book designer and private publisher, he made his principal
contribution to graphic design in the Netherlands through his position as general secretary of the Dutch PTT (Post,
Telephone and Telegraph). In 1912 he joined De Zilverdistel (The Silver Thistle), a private press at The Hague. In 1916 he
designed Cheops, which was printed in Zilvertype with initial letters and titles also cut by De Roos, following his suggestions
(Fig. 10-37).
Rudolph Koch (1876–1934), page 191, the most important of the German type designers, a powerful figure who was
deeply mystical and medieval in his viewpoints. A devout Catholic, he taught at the Arts and Crafts School in Offenbach
am Main, where he led a community of writers, printers, stonemasons, and metal and tapestry workers in a creative
community. He regarded the alphabet as a supreme spiritual achievement of humanity and tried to build upon the calligraphic
tradition by creating an original, simple expression from his gestures and materials. His type designs ranged
from original interpretations of medieval letterforms to unexpected new designs, such as the rough-hewn chunky letterforms
of his Neuland face (Figs. 10-38 and 10-39).
Frederic W. Goudy (1865–1947), page 191, an American typeface designer with a love of books and diligent work. He was
inspired by books from the Kelmscott Press, including the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, and from other private presses
represented in the rare book department of the A. C. McClurg Bookstore. In 1894 he started the Camelot Press with a
friend, but returned to bookkeeping the following year when disagreements developed. In 1895 he set up the shortlived
Booklet Press, then designed his first typeface, Camelot, during the period of unemployment that followed. He
became a freelance designer in Chicago, specializing in lettering and typographic design. His printing venture modeled
on the private-press handicraft ideal, the Village Press, was moved first to Boston, then to New York, where a terrible fire
completely destroyed it in 1908. He turned his energy to the design, cutting, and casting of typefaces and began a long
association with the Lanston Monotype Company, which commissioned some of his finest fonts. He designed a total of
122 typefaces, many of which were based on Venetian and French Renaissance type designs. His readable books include
The Alphabet (1908), Elements of Lettering (1921), and Typologia (1940). The two journals he edited, Ars Typographica
and Typographica, impacted the course of book design. He established the Village Letter, where he became a successful
independent type designer who cut matrixes, then cast and sold type (Figs. 10- 40 and 10-41).
William Addison Dwiggins (1880–1956), page 192, a student of Frederic Goudy’s at the turn of the century who proved
to be a highly literate book designer. He established a house style for the Alfred A. Knopf publishing company and
designed hundreds of volumes for that firm. He was first to use the term graphic designer to describe his professional
activities. In 1938 he designed one of the most widely used book faces in America, Caledonia.
Albert Bruce Rogers (1870–1956), page 192, Influenced by Kelmscott books, he became the most important American
book designer of the early twentieth century. He joined the Riverside Press of the Houghton Mifflin Company in 1896
and designed books with a strong Arts and Crafts influence. In 1900 Riverside established a special department for highquality
limited editions, and made him the designer for sixty limited-edition books during the following twelve years.
He applied the ideal of the beautifully designed book to commercial production, becoming very influential and setting
the standard for the twentieth-century book. For inspiration, he shifted from the sturdy types and strong woodblock
ornaments of Nicolas Jenson and Erhard Ratdolt to the lighter, graceful lettering of the French Renaissance. His 1915
typeface design Centaur is one of the finest of the numerous fonts inspired by Jenson and the first used in The Centaur
by Maurice de Guerin. He possessed an outstanding sense of visual proportion and of “rightness” (Figs. 10-42 through
10-45).
Beatrice Warde, page 192, an American typographer, writer and scholar who spent much of her working life in England,

A HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN
wrote that Bruce Rogers “managed to steal the Divine Fire which glowed in the Kelmscott Press books, and somehow
be the first to bring it down to earth.”
Morris F. Benton (1872–1948), page 195, American Type Founders Company’s head of typeface development. Designed
important revivals of Bodoni and Garamond, and collaborated on ATF’s Garamond with Thomas Maitland Cleland. His
revival of Nicolas Jenson’s type was issued as the Cloister family. He designed approximately 225 typefaces, including
nine additional members of the Goudy family and over two dozen members of the Cheltenham family. He carefully
studied human perception and reading comprehension to develop Century Schoolbook, designed for and widely used
in textbooks (Figs. 10-46 and 10-47).
Thomas Maitland Cleland (1880–1964), page 195, collaborated with Morris Benton on ATF’s Garamond. A designer
whose borders, type, and images were inspired by the Italian and French Renaissance (Fig. 10-46).
Bertram Goodhue, page 195, an architect who designed the first of the Cheltenham family of typefaces, which were later
completed by Morris Benton.