''The Fleuron'' was a British

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...

and book arts published in seven volumes from 1923 to 1930. A fleuron is a floral ornament used by typographers. In 1922

Stanley Morison Stanley Arthur Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces o ...

— the influential typographical advisor to

Monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

— together with

Francis Meynell Sir Francis Meredith Wilfrid Meynell (12 May 1891 – 10 July 1975) was a British poet and printer at The Nonesuch Press. Early career He was the son of the journalist and publisher Wilfrid Meynell and the poet Alice Meynell, a suffragist a ...

, Holbrook Jackson, Bernard Newdigate and Oliver Simon, founded the Fleuron Society in London. ''The Fleuron'' was the Fleuron Society's journal of typography and it was produced in seven lavish volumes. Each volume contained a rich variety of papers, illustrations, specimens, inserts and facsimiles along with essays by leading writers of typography and the book arts. ''The Fleuron'' is significant in containing influential essays and typographic material still relevant to the history and use of

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...

s. The Fleuron is also significant as one of a series of British typographic journals embodied in diverse formats and titles: the ''Monotype Recorder'', ''

Signature (typography journal) ''Signature: A Quadrimestrial of Typography and the Graphic Arts'' was a British magazine of typography and the graphic arts. Published and edited by Oliver Simon, it was subsidised and printed by the Curwen Press, of which Simon was a director. ...

'' (1935–1940 and 1946-1954), ''Alphabet and Image'' (1946–1952), ''

Typographica ''Typographica'' was the name of a journal of typography and visual arts founded and edited by Herbert Spencer from 1949 to 1967. Spencer was just 25 years old when the first ''Typographica'' was issued. He also served as the editor of the journal ...

'' (1949–1967), ''Motif'' (1958–1967), '' Baseline'' (1979–present), ''Matrix'' (1981–2021) and '' Eye'' (1990–present). Anthologies and reproductions of ''The Fleuron'' are also now available.

Seven volumes

Following is a brief description of the seven volumes along with notable content relating to essays, contributors and typefaces. # Edited by Oliver Simon. London, 1923. Among other articles, this issue includes Francis Meynell & Stanley Morison ''Printers' flowers and Arabesques''. # Edited by Oliver Simon. London. # Edited by Oliver Simon. London, 1924. This volume includes articles on the development of the book, W.A. Dwiggins, D.B. Updike and the Merrymount Press, and modern styles in music printing in England. # Edited by Oliver Simon. London, 1925. The fourth volume includes an essay by Frederic Warde on the work of Bruce Rogers. # Edited by Stanley Morison. The University Press, Cambridge, and Doubleday Page, New York, 1926. This volume includes the essay by Beatrice Warde (using the male pseudonym Paul Beaujon) on the historically inaccurate attribution of Jean Jannon's types to

Claude Garamond Claude Garamont (–1561), known commonly as Claude Garamond, was a French type designer, publisher and punch-cutter based in Paris. Garamond worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp matrices, the moulds used to cast metal ty ...

. # Edited by Stanley Morison. The University Press, Cambridge, and Doubleday Page, New York, 1928. This volume includes articles on

Rudolf Koch Rudolf Koch (20 November 1876 – 9 April 1934) was a German type designer, professor, and a master of lettering, calligraphy, typography and illustration. Commonly known for his typefaces created for the Klingspor Type Foundry, his most widel ...

, Geofroy Tory, an essay by Beatrice Warde (under the pen name Paul Beaujon) called ''On Decorative Printing in America'' and ''Decorated Types'' by Stanley Morison. # Edited by Stanley Morison. The University Press, Cambridge, and Doubleday Page, New York, 1930. This volume includes specimens of

Perpetua Perpetua and Felicity ( la, Perpetua et Felicitas) were Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son s ...

Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

Roman, Monotype

Bembo Bembo is a serif typeface created by the British branch of the Monotype Corporation in 1928–1929 and most commonly used for body text. It is a member of the " old-style" of serif fonts, with its regular or roman style based on a design cut a ...

and

Lutetia The Gallo-Roman town of ''Lutetia'' (''Lutetia Parisiorum'' in Latin, in French ''Lutèce'') was the predecessor of the modern-day city of Paris. It was founded in about the middle of the 3rd century BCE by the Parisii, a Gallic tribe. Tra ...

. This issue contains a Beatrice Warde essay, ''

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

: Sculptor of Letters'' and a complete reprinting of ''The Passion of

Perpetua and Felicity Perpetua and Felicity ( la, Perpetua et Felicitas) were Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son s ...

'' with type and illustrations by

. Also included is a famous essay by Stanley Morison, ''First Principles of Typography.''

References

* ''The Fleuron, A Journal of Typography.'' Numbers 1–4. Edited by Oliver Simon, London, 1923–1925. * ''The Fleuron, A Journal of Typography.'' Numbers 5–7. Edited by Stanley Morison. The University Press, Cambridge, and Doubleday Page, New York, 1926–1930.

External links

The Fleuron no. 5
at Fonts In Use {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleuron Visual arts magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1923 Magazines disestablished in 1930 Typography