The Stratford Press of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

was the

private press Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on design, gra ...

of Elmer Frank Gleason (1882–1965), who hand-crafted non-commercial books for libraries, literary clubs, academic institutions, philanthropists, artists, collectors, patrons, and friends.

History

The Stratford Press, for commercial purposes, was founded in 1913 in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, by Thomas F. Johnson (born 1880) and Elmer Frank Gleason for the purpose of producing "high-grade commercial and society printing." Gleason filed for bankruptcy in 1914. After the failed commercial attempt in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, Gleason began building books, privately in Cincinnati under the name, Stratford Press, around 1920, as a hobby – during the arts and Crafts movement, and in particular, the private press movement throughout

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

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, and

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. Gleason – lauded as a talented artisan in the craft of book building and design – printed and bound his books by hand. Some of his works have flourished in literary, art, and history circles, not only for design and construction, but also for substantive content. An exemplary specimen of his work is found in a booklet, ''

Clara Chipman Newton Clara Chipman Newton (October 26, 1848 – December 8, 1936)Profile with dat ...

: a memorial tribute,'' released November 1, 1938, in Cincinnati.

Selected acclaim

James Lamar Weygand, in 1965, authored and published a critical-biographical essay and a bibliography, ''Elmer F. Gleason and the Stratford Press: A History & Bibliography,'' wherein he asserted that the Stratford Press "was one of the most significant private presses of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

." He pointed out that, in nearly a half-century of creative activity, Gleason contributed substantially to typographical standards both in the

Ohio Valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinoi ...

and in the nation.

Selected works

* ''Clara Chipman Newton: A Memorial Tribute'' (small booklet; limited edition, privately distributed)

Compiling committee: Florence Murdoch ''(maiden;'' 1887–1977) (chairman); Eunice Resor ''(née'' Eunice Swift Thoms; 1871–1960); Susan Galbraith ''(née'' Susan Clark Neff; 1877–1970);

Emma Mendenhall Emma Mendenhall (March 15, 1873 – March 25, 1964) was an American landscape, portrait and still life painter. A lifelong resident of Cincinnati, where she taught at the Oakhurst School, Mendenhall also traveled widely, incorporating scenes of ...

(1873–1964); Elizabeth Kellogg ''(née'' Elizabeth Rockey Kellogg; 1870–1967)

The booklet was hand designed, printed, and bound by the Stratford Press (the private press of Elmer Frank Gleason; 1882–1965; at his home in

); co-publishers: (i) Cincinnati Woman's Club, (ii) The Loring Andrews Company, (iii) The Stratford Press; released November 1, 1938;

Elmer Frank Gleason

Elmer Frank Gleason, professionally in

, was head of layout and design for the McDonald Printing Company.

The name, Stratford (disambiguation)

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

is the hometown of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Stratford is also a metropolitan district in the

London Borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. The name "Stratford" is contained in several book-literature company oriented names, including (i) The Stratford Press Company of Cleveland, founded in 1911 by William Joseph Raddatz (1880–1940), dissolved in 1925, and (ii) The Stratford Company, Publishers,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, founded around 1915, which published ''The Stratford Journal'' ("an international magazine") (Vol. 1, No. 1, Autumn 1916, to Vol. 6, No. 1, January-March 1920), and (iii) the American Book-Stratford Press, Inc., founded by Louis Satenstein (1882–1964) in

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as the American Book Bindery Company.

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= "Fine Printing is Cincinnatian's Hobby; 'The Ideal Book' Is His Ultimate Goal," ''

Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

,'' May 10, 1940 (accessible ''via''

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

at {{URL, https://www.newspapers.com/image/103447524, subscription required) "In Memorandum: Mrs. Clara Chipman Newton," ''

,'' November 5, 1938, p. 7 (accessible ''via''

at {{URL, https://www.newspapers.com/image/99887188, subscription required) ''Clara Chipman Newton: A Memorial Tribute'' (re:

Clara Chipman Newton Clara Chipman Newton (October 26, 1848 – December 8, 1936)Profile with dat ...

)

Compiling committee:

Florence Murdoch ''(maiden;'' 1887–1977) (chairman); Eunice Resor ''(née'' Eunice Swift Thoms; 1871–1960); Susan Galbraith ''(née'' Susan Clark Neff; 1877–1970);

(1873–1964); Elizabeth Kellogg ''(née'' Elizabeth Rockey Kellogg; 1870–1967)

Hand designed, printed, and bound by the Stratford Press (the private press of Elmer Frank Gleason; 1882–1965); co-publishers: (i) Cincinnati Woman's Club, (ii) The Loring Andrews Company, (iii) The Stratford Press; released November 1, 1938; {{OCLC, 2728836 ''Lexikon des Gesamten Buchwesens'' (online) ''(Encyclopedia of the Entire Book Trade),''

Leiden, Netherlands Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with ...

Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 27 ...

(2008, 2014); {{OCLC, 7050727994; {{ISBN, 9783777214122 ''Elmer F. Gleason and The Stratford Press: A History & Bibliography,'' by James Lamar Weygand, Private Press of the Indiana Kid (1965); {{OCLC, 2183805 ''Briefer Mention'' (the papers of the

Bibliographical Society of America The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is the oldest learned society in North America dedicated to the study of books and manuscripts as physical objects. Established in 1904, the society promotes bibliographical research and issues bibliograp ...

, published by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

), Vol. 60, No. 1, First Quarter 1966, p. 128 (book review: ''Elmer F. Gleason and the Stratford Press;'' 1965); {{ISSN, 0006-128X (accessible ''via''

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

at {{URL, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24300920) American printers American typographers and type designers American graphic designers Small press publishing companies Book publishing companies of the United States History of Cincinnati Arts and Crafts movement Publishing companies established in 1920 Defunct publishing companies of the United States 1920 establishments in Ohio Private press movement American companies established in 1920