Charles Whittingham (16 June 1767 – 5 January 1840) was an English printer.

Biography

He was born at

Caludon Caludon Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed building in Coventry, in the West Midlands of England. A second moated site to the south is a Scheduled Ancient Monument in its own right. The castle is now a ruin, and all th ...

or Calledon,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, the son of a farmer, and was apprenticed to a

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

printer and bookseller. In 1789 he set up a small printing press in a garret off Fleet Street,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, with a loan obtained from the Caslon Type Foundry, and, by 1797, his business had so increased that he was enabled to move into larger premises. An edition of

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

's ''Poems'', printed by him in 1799, secured him the patronage of all the leading publishers. Whittingham inaugurated the idea of printing cheap, handy editions of standard authors, and, on the bookselling trade threatening not to sell his productions, took a room at a

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

and sold them by auction himself. In 1809, he started a paper-pulp factory at Chiswick, near London, and in 1811 founded the

Chiswick Press The Chiswick Press was founded by Charles Whittingham I (1767–1840) in 1811. The management of the Press was taken over in 1840 by the founder's nephew Charles Whittingham II (1795–1876). The name was first used in 1811, and the Press continu ...

. From 1810 to 1815 he devoted his chief attention to illustrated books and is credited with having been the first to use proper overlays in printing

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

s, as he was the first to print a fine, or "Indian Paper" edition. He was one of the first to use a steam engine in a pulp mill, but his presses he preferred to have worked by hand. He died at Chiswick. His nephew

Charles Whittingham (1795–1876) Charles Whittingham (1795–1876) was an English printer, a nephew of Charles Whittingham (1767–1840) who took over the Chiswick Press from his uncle. Life Whittingham was born at Mitcham, Surrey, on 30 October 1795; his father Samuel Whittingh ...

, who from 1824 to 1828 had been in partnership with his uncle, in 1838 assumed control of the business. He already had printing works at Took's Court,

Chancery Lane Chancery Lane is a one-way street situated in the ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. It has formed the western boundary of the City since 1994, having previously been divided between the City of Westminster and the London Boro ...

, London, and had printed various notable books, especially devoting himself to the introduction of ornamental initial letters, and the artistic arrangement of the printed page. The imprint of the Chiswick press was now placed on the productions of the Took's Court as well as of the Chiswick works, and in 1852 the whole business was removed to London. Under the management of the younger Whittingham, the Chiswick Press achieved a considerable reputation. He died on 21 April 1876.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whittingham, Charles 1767 births 1840 deaths People from Coventry English printers