Edmund Fry (1754–1835) was an English
type-founder.
Early life
Fry was the son of
Joseph Fry, and member of the Bristol Fry family, born at
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
. He studied medicine; took the degree of M.D. at Edinburgh, and spent some time at
St George's Hospital
St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main hospital site i ...
, London.
Fry & Co.
In 1782 his father admitted him and his brother Henry, as partners in the type-foundry business in
Queen Street, London
Queen Street is a street in the City of London which runs between Upper Thames Street at its southern end to Cheapside in the north. The thoroughfares of Queen Street and King Street (a northward continuation of Queen Street beyond Cheapside) ...
. The father retired in 1787, when the new firm, Edmund Fry & Co., issued their first 'Specimen of Printing Types,’ followed the next year by an enlarged edition. Several founts of the oriental type, which fill twelve pages, were cut by Fry.
In 1788 the printing business was separated from the foundry, and remained at Worship Street as the 'Cicero Press,’ under the management of Henry Fry. The foundry was removed to a place opposite
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...
in Chiswell Street, and new works erected in a street then called Type Street. Homer's series of the classics (1789–1794), printed by Millar Ritchie, were from the characters of the Type Street foundry. In 1793 'Edmund Fry & Co., letter founders to the Prince of Wales,’ produced a 'Specimen of Metal-cast Ornaments curiously adjusted to paper,’ which gained vogue among printers. The next year Fry took Isaac Steele into partnership, and published a 'Specimen' which 'shows a marked advance on its predecessors'.
On the admission of George Knowles in 1799, the firm took the name of Fry, Steele, & Co. At the start of the nineteenth century the modern-faced type supplanted the old-faced. 'Specimens of modern cut printing types from the foundry of Messrs. Fry & Steele' are given in Caleb Stower's 'Printer's Grammar,’ 1808. About this time Fry reassumed sole management of the business. In 1816 a 'Specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry, Letter Founder to
the King and
Prince Regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...
,’ was published. The firm soon after became Edmund Fry & Son, on the admission of his son, Windover.
In a 'Specimen' printed in 1824 the name is changed back to 'Edmund Fry' at 'the Polyglot Foundry.' In 1828 he moved to dispose of his business, and issued a descriptive circular. It was purchased by William Thorowgood of
Fann Street
Fann Street is a street in the City of London, England.
It runs west–east, from its junction with Aldersgate Street and Goswell Road in the west, to the junction with Golden Lane, London, Golden Lane in the east.
In its original form of Fan ...
, and the stock removed in 1829. It was then in the hands of Thorowgood & Besley, then R. Besley & Co., and finally Sir Charles Reed & Sons, before closing in the early twentieth century.
Later life
Fry was one of the most learned of the English typefounders, but retired with little. He was a member of the
Company of Stationers. He died at Dalby Terrace, City Road, London, at the age of eighty-one, on 22 December 1835.
Works
In 1798 he circulated a 'Prospectus' of the major work on which he had been occupied for sixteen years, published as ''
Pantographia, containing accurate Copies of all the known Alphabets of the World, together with an English explanation of the peculiar Force and Power of each Letter, to which are added Specimens of all well-authenticated Oral Languages, forming a Comprehensive Digest of Phonology'', 1799.
The volume contains more than two hundred alphabets, including eighteen varieties of the
Chaldee and thirty-two of the Greek. Many of the characters were expressly cut by Fry for his book.
Fry cut several founts of oriental types for the university of Cambridge, the
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world.
The ...
, and other bodies.
In 1833 twenty designs for raised type for the blind were submitted to the
Royal Scottish Society of Arts, who had offered a prize for the best example. Among them was one from Fry, to whom the gold medal was awarded a couple of years after his death.
Family
He was married twice: first to Jenny, daughter of Nicholas Windover, of
Stockbridge,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, of whose issue one son only survived, Windover Fry (1797–1835); secondly to Ann Hancock, by whom he had a son, Arthur (1809–78). A portrait of Fry, painted by Frédérique Boileau, was shown at the
Caxton Exhibition in 1877. A silhouette has been reproduced by Reed and Fry.
References
*
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Edmund
1754 births
1835 deaths
Businesspeople from Bristol
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
English typographers and type designers
Edmund
Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector".
Persons named Edmund include:
People Kings and nobles
*Ed ...