William Graily Hewit or Graily Hewitt (1864–1952) was a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and calligrapher, second only to

Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a writing tool. He is most fa ...

in importance to the revival of calligraphy in the country at the turn of the twentieth century.

Biography

Hewitt was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. First training as a lawyer, he interrupted his career to write a novel and a volume of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

. He later attended Edward Johnston's evening classes at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central ...

and quickly became a teacher there, and at the

Camberwell School of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgrad ...

, taking up Johnston's previous work. Hewitt remained at the Central School until the 1920s and 1930s, publishing together with Johnston throughout the early part of the century and working with a series of other illuminators over the decades. Hewitt was central to the revival of gilding in calligraphy, and his prolific output on type design also appeared between 1915 and 1943. His contributions to ''Writing, Illuminating and Lettering''Johnston, Edwar
"Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering"
8th Edition and his guide ''Lettering for Students & Craftsmen (1930)'' are considered particularly crucial to the revival of gilding. He is credited with the revival of gilding with

gesso Gesso (; "chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates suc ...

and gold leaf on

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

. Elements of Hewitt's work are included in a variety of manuscript books. He was one of the initiators of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators, in 1921. Hewitt sought to link calligraphy and

type design Type design is the art and process of designing typefaces. This involves drawing each letterform using a consistent style. The basic concepts and design variables are described below. A typeface differs from other modes of graphic production su ...

, arguing that type should represent creations of pen. The Treyford Type, employed for The Pen and Type Design, was a design of Hewitt's. He also created a series of initials for St. John Hornby's Ashendene Press, during the long period 1902 to 1935. He continued calligraphy up to his death on 22 December 1952 aged 88. His work is kept in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

's collection.

Works

* Hewitt, Graily, ''Lettering for Students & Craftsmen'' (1930).

References

British calligraphers British graphic designers 1864 births British typographers and type designers People educated at Westminster School, London 1952 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Academics of the Central School of Art and Design {{graphic-designer-stub