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The Chiswick Press was founded by
The typeface ''Basle Roman'' was cut for the Chiswick Press in 1854 by William Howard and cast at his foundry in Great Queen Street. It was first used for the Rev. William Calvert's ''The Wife's Manual'' (a book of religious verse), published in 1854; later editions followed in 1856 and 1861, both set in the same type which apparently had only one size, 10-11 pt and no italic. The Basle roman is a type based on the kind of roman type used by
The Chiswick Press was founded by Charles Whittingham
Charles Whittingham (16 June 1767 – 5 January 1840) was an English printer.
Biography
He was born at Caludon or Calledon, Warwickshire, the son of a farmer, and was apprenticed to a Coventry printer and bookseller. In 1789 he set up a small ...
I (1767–1840) in 1811. The management of the Press was taken over in 1840 by the founder's nephew Charles Whittingham II
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
(1795–1876). The name was first used in 1811, and the Press continued to operate until 1962. C. Whittingham I gained notoriety for his popularly priced classics, but the Chiswick Press became very influential in English printing and typography under C. Whittingham II who, most notably, published some of the early designs of William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
. The Chiswick Press deserves conspicuous credit for the reintroduction of quality printing into the trade in England when in 1844 it produced ''The Diary of Lady Willoughby
Hannah Mary Rathbone (5 July 1798, in Shropshire – 26 March 1878, in Liverpool) was an English writer and the author of ''The Diary of Lady Willoughby''.
Life
Reynolds was born in 1798. Her parents were Joseph Reynolds and Deborah (born Dearman ...
''.
History
The typeface ''Basle Roman'' was cut for the Chiswick Press in 1854 by William Howard and cast at his foundry in Great Queen Street. It was first used for the Rev. William Calvert's ''The Wife's Manual'' (a book of religious verse), published in 1854; later editions followed in 1856 and 1861, both set in the same type which apparently had only one size, 10-11 pt and no italic. The Basle roman is a type based on the kind of roman type used by Johannes Froben
Johann Froben, in Latin: Johannes Frobenius (and combinations), (c. 1460 – 27 October 1527) was a famous printer, publisher and learned Renaissance humanist in Basel. He was a close friend of Erasmus and cooperated closely with Hans Holbein t ...
of Basle in the early 16th century. In 1889 it was used by William Morris for his romance ''A Tale of the House of the Wolfings
''A Tale of the House of the Wolfings and All the Kindreds of the Mark'' is a fantasy novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of muc ...
'', and again for ''The Roots of the Mountains
''The Roots of the Mountains: Wherein is Told Somewhat of the Lives of the Men of Burgdale, Their Friends, Their Neighbors, Their Foemen, and Their Fellows in Arms'' is a fantasy romance novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy ...
'' (dated 1890 but appeared the year before). The volumes of religious verse by the Rev. Orby Shipley
Orby Shipley (July 1, 1832 - July 5, 1916) was an English clergyman, editor, liturgist, translator, publisher, and hymn-writer. An Anglo-Catholic convert to Roman Catholicism from the Church of England, he had been a priest of the Society of the Ho ...
also used Basle roman: ''Lyra eucharistica'' (1863), ''Lyra messianica'' (1864) and ''Lyra mystica'' (1865).
After William Morris's Kelmscott Press
The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published fifty-three books in sixty-six volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many ...
closed, leftover paper and the type fonts were given to the Chiswick Press.
References
{{Authority control Letterpress font foundries Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom 1811 establishments in England British companies established in 1811