Rule-bending printers

I have huge sympathy for the artistic printers in their attempt to present themselves as designers, as well as a printers. Advertising agencies were, by the 1880s, already in the ascendency and if the print industry was to maintain control of what it printed it needed to offer a design service as well as a reprographic service. It was fated to fail. Why it failed was described is the subject of Graphic Design Before Graphic Designers, published by Thames and Hudson in 2012.

Except for minor modifications, the tools and techniques of letterpress printing were the same in 1800 as they had been in 1500. Printing types, cast by hand at a rate of a few hundred letters per hour, were set by hand at an average of 1,500 letters per hour for conventional text matter. 

But between 1800 and 1850 the population of Great Britain doubled, from ten to twenty million, during which time, the cost of living dropped by approximately 50%, whilst wages remained roughly the same. More people with more money. And yet, as the nineteenth century progressed, the main commercial printing process remained letterpress and of the 500 printing firms in London in 1850, it is estimated that over 80% employed just three men or fewer (1). 

The kind of work these printers were employed to do (since book, magazine and, particularly newspaper production now required specialist printing equipment) might typically have been packaging, stationery, posters, labels, leaflets and handbills, legal work and security printing. Such work was called jobbing (perhaps, initially, from the term odd-jobs) and was the result of increasing commercial competition, improvements in transport and, of course, the technical potential of the printing industry itself. Printing presses were certainly becoming more accurate, faster, and so they offered a very cost-effective method of informing potential customers of products and services. 

Artistic printing in North America 
The same process of social and economic development had been taking place in North America. By 1870, having come through a period of pioneering, exploration and, of course, a civil war, Americans were generally of a happy disposition. The nation was a century old and the air of celebration and confidence found expression in embellishment: architecture, furniture, fashion (plus opulent facial whiskers) as well as in the appearance of print. In America, where convention was considered to belong to the ‘old world’, there were fewer reservations, and, perhaps, even considerable enthusiasm, for the breaking with tradition. This bravado certainly appears to have been encouraged by business customers who were demanding more ‘attractive’, less conventional printed matter in order to promote their goods and services. As in England, jobbing had been a common term used in North America to describe such work, but as the commercial potential and prestige of this new market grew, some printing offices, to distinguish themselves from ‘the run-of-mill’ printers, began calling themselves Art Jobbing Offices, Art Printers or, most commonly, Artistic Printers. 

The period immediately preceding the art-jobbing era had seen the rise of idiosyncratic, typefaces which had their aesthetic roots in the industries for which they were ultimately used. Edmund Gress (2) in his book, Fashions in American Typography described them thus; ‘There is a dominant black tone in the types combined with a certain squareness and plainness of form that reflects a rugged and pioneering mood: log cabins, canal boats, black plug hats, black boots, stagecoaches, covered wagons, black beards, masted schooners and storms at sea, black frock coats of southern gentlemen, black smoke from funnels and the new steamers. It was a period of strength of character and purpose.’ And yet, these typefaces, which today represent everything about early America, were inexplicably ignored in favour of new, ‘exotic’ faces suggestive of Japan, North Africa – particularly Egypt – and Asia. 

Oscar Harpel of Cincinnati, a leading exponent of this work, published his Typograph or Book of Specimens in 1870, a manual containing technical information, business advice and, most important, a collection of letterpress jobbing examples. Harpel‘s book was devoted to the ‘art’ of the compositor, rather than the usual, routine details of composing room skills. Harpel explained, ‘…Such a spirit, if properly maintained, can only promote the interests of all concerned, and serve to elevate Printing still higher as a substantial and creative Art.’ Printed in five colours by Harpel himself, this book aspired to make any compositor ‘a typographic whiz‘. It was certainly a revelation regarding the possibilities of letterpress printing. There was an exciting sense of being liberated from the conventions of the past. The past belonged to the ‘old world’ whilst America represented the ‘new world’, the future. Reading the literature of the time it is clear that many printers in America took up Artistic Printing with a passion close to religious fervour.

 There followed a substantial and earnest adoption of Harpel’s approach and print shops established throughout North America, were making what was generally described as artistic printing, a speciality. The type founders happily contributed, not only in producing new display faces but also by enlarging their brass-rule departments, increasing their production of dingbats and even supplying rule-bending devices, such as the ‘Crinkler’, to assist the new-found creative spirit. The art printing movement was supported by improvements in the manufacture of auxiliary items. Firstly, there had been a huge number of display types (often termed ‘fancy’ types) made available, many of which were elaborately decorated and shaded, influenced in part by the hand-drawn, ornamental lithographic letters and commercial signage that had been so common for some time. There was also a great variety of typographic borders and embellishments introduced. These expanded the possibilities of letterpress printing and made possible many decorative, ‘artistic’ or ‘fancy’ effects previously only obtainable with the assistance of the wood-engraver or the lithographer. 

Secondly, the new printing machines could be operated with a remarkable precision and power. Heavier and more powerful presses than those available in England ensured that perfect register could be obtained, certainly more accurate than that available by any hand-press. Running at high speed these machines made it economical for the printer to work in many colours, something that would previously have been too expensive. Thirdly, the ink manufacturers provided the printer with a much larger range of colours and hues, varnishes and many-hued bronzes. Ink was better made and, having been manufactured in bulk it was being sold at much lower prices. Lastly, paper manufacturers were providing paper that was more predictable in both weight and colour, more stable, and, importantly, did not require dampening. 

A sense of change was in the air and American printers genuinely felt that they were not only currently the best in the world, but the best printers ever. They celebrated their current status and pitied earlier printers; ‘…the multifarious demands of plain and ornamental job-printing, united with the modern facilities for cheap and rapid production, incited modern type-founders to call into existence the bewildering variety of beautiful creations which adorn their specimen books, and subsequently, give force and elegance to thousands of printers’ products which were unknown half a century ago’. 

An insight into the way the American printer viewed the product of his newly established ‘art’ is offered in a review of a print-specimen reproduced in the influential journal American Model Printer of 1879, ‘A V Haight, Poughkeepsie, New York, sends us his latest business card, which we must pronounce as beautiful. The design is Japanesque, with all the beauties of modern adornment. It is elegant in its simplicity and precise in execution. The colours used are gold, emerald green, bright red, medium violet and orange tints, field of light blue tint, also a field of gloss black. The lettering is Gothic italic capitals, worked in gold and black, producing a fine gold shade.’ 

The commitment to Artistic Printing can be seen in type-specimen books issued between 1870 and 1895 by many American printers. Typically, Rand & Avery of Boston, displayed 175 different designs of type, and although many are single fonts, some run to six, seven or eight sizes. ‘All available in one printing office!’ This commitment to change, to the investment in a renewed, redefined printing industry did not fail to be noticed in England – undoubtedly the epicentre of what Americans considered the ‘old world’. 

This distinction between the old and new worlds was made explicit in the pages of the American Model Printer. In issue number one, an article titled ‘American Style’, takes the perceived ‘blinkered view’ of the English printer to task; ‘It is the fashion with printers of European education to find the same fault with the freedom of style of American job printing which they find with the habits and customs and even political life of our people. It is, they say, “liberty run mad;” a “style that is no style,” etc. The trouble with these gentlemen is that they have been trained in a narrow and conventional school, where everything is done according to the old traditions of the craft, and are thus pre-disqualified from properly estimating not only the present beauty of American job-work, but its certain influence on foreign styles in the future… There is wide diversity of taste among American printers… most of this diversity comes from the laudable desire to produce original work. It is this which has flooded the country with inventions and labour-saving devices, and which will enable America, in time, to control the markets of the world.’ 

In the same issue, in an article titled ‘Job Printing as an Art’, the standards of job printing in England, Ireland, Italy, Spain, France and Switzerland, are each, in turn, assessed. Here is the final paragraph concerning England. ‘The general peculiarity of English job printing is its abruptness and sameness of appearance – with nothing to charm the eye or enrapture the senses. Typefaces so old and tiresome that one asks – is there never to be change? or are the followers of the craft there incapable of originating a new feature? Still, these plain faces of letters might be made attractive if they were only artistically arranged… Notwithstanding all this, there is a character to English printing, and that is its painful plainness, lacking nearly all prerequisites pertaining to art.’ 

To English printers who cared about such criticism, it would have been no consolation that all the other ‘old world’ countries fared no better in the opinion of this (uncredited) author. Not surprisingly, words such as ‘arrogance’ and ‘ignorance’ were commonly used in reply. But there were a few influential people within the print industry in England who thought the Americans had a point and by political and commercial astuteness were to divert the conservatism of the English printer for a brief but remarkable period. 

Artistic printing in England 
The rise of artistic printing in England may be traced to the Great Exhibition in 1851 generating an interest in all things ‘exotic’, and to the Caxton exhibition in 1871. Certainly some printers must also have obtained copies of Harpel’s book but the Artistic Style undoubtedly received its greatest impetus by the establishment in England of The Printers’ International Specimen Exchange in 1880. Organised by Andrew White-Tuer, the editor of the Paper and Printing journal, the concept (put forward in a letter by Thomas Hailing to the editor) was simple but ingenious. Each subscriber, at a cost of one shilling, (5p or £12.50 in today's money) provided a certain number of a typographic specimens (200 for the first issue) which represented their best work. These were then collated into sets so that each subscriber received 200 specimens, all different, in place of his own 200 all alike. For an additional charge, subscribers could receive their samples arranged in alphabetical order and tipped into a leather-bound volume. 

After the success of The Exchange (which continued to be published until 1898) a number of the leading printers adopted the idea of issuing their own special work-specimen books, published at a nominal price or, no doubt, passed to a potential new customer gratis. Such overt, self-publicising activities were unique in a print trade which had previously been renowned for its tradition of reticence and mellow adherence to the conventions of quiet conservatism. A new, brazen spirit, born not only of competition but also the possibility of individuality, had been realised. 

The superior quality of North American printing was the prime reason given by White-Tuer for setting up The Exchange. A comparison of two contemporary printing journals of the time, the American Model Printer and the British Printer makes clear the differences in both quality of printing and typographic design. 

The American Model Printer, first published in October 1879, has the larger format; 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. It is printed in black only except for several pages which were lavishly and immaculately printed in numerous colours solely to display examples of new ‘Artistic’ work. The columns of text are generously leaded and the headings are set in carefully spaced sans serif caps. That every aspect of the American Model Printer has been carefully considered and then designed before a compositor has begun setting is very apparent. The masthead is flamboyantly heralds the ‘new world’. The quality of the printing is excellent, the choice paper, whiter and distinctly heavier than than newsprint, is perfect for the format and feels crisp in the hand. 

The British Printer(3) although launched nine years after the American Model Printer, in January 1888, comes a poor second, this despite its first editorial stating that it aspires to meet the standards of the American journal. The quality of the printing is inferior and so is the paper, but it is the overall design which most clearly differentiates the two. Although claiming to be entirely supportive of the Artistic ideals, the masthead on the title page of the British Printer has an amorphous quasi-historical appearance that suggests the form of an ancient paper scroll or a medieval banner. 

The appearance of The British Printer, described at the time as ‘Antique’ or ‘Old Style’ was the result of a frenzied Caslon-Revivalism. This new-found interest in Caxton was due to the Caxton Quadricentennial Celebration exhibition held in 1877.(4) The exhibition took Caxton as merely the starting point, the majority having evolved into a comprehensive exhibition of printing up to and including the present day. Nevertheless, the display of Caxton’s work was the cause of a great deal of imitation. Andrew White-Tuer was one of several involved in the organisation of this exhibition and, he explained the revival of ‘old-style’ (or ‘antique’) as follows, ‘Prince Albert, among other tastes, had one for delicate printing, and when the Great Exhibition of 1851 was about to open he enquired whether it would not be possible to get a display of old-style types. Of course, every foundry was searched for matrices…. After a long search, Caslon’s found some stored away among their rubbish. The type was cast, and the visitors to the Exhibition stared curiously at the long S’s and the oddities of “old-face”.’ 

This style took even hold in America – De Vinne being one of it’s many, if brief, proponents – and was seen as a rival to the ‘artistic’ printer, although, as in both England and America, the two styles often, and probably inadvertently, merged (the British Printer being a typical example). This rivalry was probably the cause of White-Tuer (‘Old-Style’) losing the editorship of The Exchange to Robert Hilton (‘Artistic’) in 1888. Hilton, a senior employee at the influential Leicestershire printing company, Raithby Lawrence – and a leader in the Artistic style – became the first editor of the British Printer, launched the same year he took over The Exchange. George W. Jones, who was also employed as foreman at Raithby Lawrence, designed the British Printer and set up The British Typogaphia Association of which the British Printer was the association’s mouthpiece. 

It was the work of Robert Grayson, who took over as foreman at Raithby Lawrence and as designer of the British Printer when Jones retired, that is still referred to as the ‘Leicester Free Style’. Under Grayson, the principles of Artistic Printing were by no means abandoned, but they were certainly tainted by Old-Style influences. Tints were still mixed and rules bent, but the tints generally became darker, pervading the work with a weary and rather gloomy appearance. Printing was suffering the symptoms of a serious malady which had gripped the whole of Victorian society, a malady of ‘aesthetic discontent’, and which both John Ruskin and William Morris campaigned hard to cure. Old-Style printers might have imagined that they were returning to tradition, but were, in reality, simply falling back upon a form of archaism which had been a stock ‘remedy’ for many English printers since the eighteenth century. 

In America, by the late 1890s, the rule-bending era was all but over, its demise hastened by changes in both aesthetic and technological developments. Firstly, the many adherents of the emerging arts and crafts movement in England lost no opportunity to express their utter contempt for the banality of Harpel’s arbitrary use of decorative relics when compared with the ‘purity of the fifteenth century revival’ being undertaken by William Morris and the American followers of the burgeoning private press movement. But the growing economic pressures being driven by mechanisation cannot be underestimated. From the 1890s onwards, a veritable deluge of mechanical typesetting devices were patented, all of them introduced as being more efficient in the composing of types than the fingers of the compositor. A more rational, more economic style certainly had its advantages and its advocates. 

The contempt which was eventually felt for Artistic Printing is typically expressed here by the American Samual E. Lesser writing in the British Printer in 1929, ‘…despite all the ingenuity exercised, it must be admitted that Artistic Printing was all “loves labour lost” in so far as lasting worth was concerned. It had as little relation to real typographic beauty as the process of putting jigsaw puzzles together has, and, indeed, it required just that kind of mentality and skill. If this be an American contribution to typography, none can be found today to be proud of it as such.’ 5