Older events

talk Phil Baines: In the footsteps of Nicolete Gray

16 September 2003. The presentation (by Phil Baines and Catherine Dixon) of lettering in the environment showed a keen understanding and application of intellect for the subject. It was clear that, as relevant as the examples of signage were in style and execution, their placement and context clarified the benefits and virtues of public lettering.

Examples from a variety of cities and locations worldwide encompassed the prosaic treatment for architecture, street names, transport and directional signage and the eclectic and fascinating treatment of shop signs, underground stations and manhole covers.

Phil Baines' appreciation of vernacular signs began at an early age, and his awareness and study of Nicolete Gray's Central Lettering Record came later. During the 1990s, initiated through student tours of London, a contemporary extension to the Central Lettering Record developed, eventually accumulating into a website designed by the students with commentary and identification provide by Catherine Dixon and Phil.

Photos: Phil Baines & Catherine Dixon, copyright Central Lettering Record, London & Museu da Cidade, Lisboa 2003.

A significant part of the lecture was the comparison of the lettering recorded in Lisbon by Nicolete Gray in the 1950s and 1960s and ? forty years on ? a re-study of the locations photographed by her. With many of the originals, records had not been taken at the time of their position or place, so a search for identification was undertaken. This began the start of a Lettering Record archive for Lisbon, expanded to include graffiti, a phenomenon not around during Nicolete Gray's study. Particularly fascinating was the survival of much of the lettering on shopfronts, explained by the interpretation of the cultural and political conditions prevalent in Portugal during the second half of the twentieth century.

Photos: [mono 1960s] Nicolete Gray 1964 courtesy Central Lettering Record, London; [colour 2000s] Phil Baines & Catherine Dixon, copyright Central Lettering Record, London & Museu da Cidade, Lisboa 2003.

The beneficial outcome of attending the lecture, and more widely for those who did not, was the launch of the book Signs: lettering in the environment by Phil Baines & Catherine Dixon. This is a most comprehensive record with over 700 colour references, all meticulously explained and clarified, with chapters and sections that have a natural flow. Both the lecture and the book are examples of a personal appreciation of their subject by the authors, and their ability to convey and share it with us.

event An evening with Eric Ravilious

27 May 2003. An evening of Ravilious-mania at St Bride Printing Library, which included: the launch of the St Bride Notebook illustrated with original engravings by Ravilious; the opening of an exhibition to celebrate his bookwork; and a lecture given by Brian Webb which also focused on the bookwork of Ravilious.

The evening was attended by over 120 people who enjoyed a glass of wine, a fine exhibition and talk, and the chance to socialize with other Friends of the library.

The St Bride Notebook

Eric Ravilious cut 42 wood engravings for the Kynoch Press Notebook of 1933, delightful vignettes that stand among the best of his engraved work. To celebrate the centenary of Ravilious' birth, the Friends of the St Bride Printing Library commissioned Caroline Archer to write the text for a new edition of the engravings, and the Incline Press to design and print this new edition. The result is a beautiful piece of work that is sure to become a collectable piece. All proceeds from the book will be donated to the Friends of St Bride. There is more information about the Notebook on the publications page.

The lecture

After the book launch and exhibition preview, an enjoyable and informative lecture 'Eric Ravilious ? influences and introductions' was given by Brian Webb, partner in the graphic design team of Trickett & Webb and Visiting Professor at the London Institute. This illustrated lecture looked at the work of Eric Ravilious as a designer of books for the Golden Cockerel and Golden Hours Presses and Dent publishers. Brian also discussed Ravilious' publicity material for the Monotype Corporation, the Curwen Press and Country Life magazine and his ceramic work for Wedgwood and World Fairs. The lecture was accompanied by numerous slides, many that had neither been published nor seen before.

exhibition Eric Ravilious

May?June 2003. This exhibition celebrates the publication of the St Bride notebook, which features illustrations by the celebrated wood-engraver Eric Ravilious:

The miniature wood-engravings in the St Bride notebook brought to the depiction of English rural life a rich and satisfying simplicity which wood-engraving had not had since the time of Bewick, and brought to that depiction a sense of formal design which Bewick's engravings did not have. (Robert Harling)

During his short life (1903-42) Ravilious was responsible for engravings for many different kinds of publication. However, there was much more to Eric Ravilious than his talent as a wood-engraver. He began his career as an industrial designer under the patronage of Oliver Simon of the Curwen Press and created some of the most celebrated industrial designs of the 1930s. He was also famous in his lifetime as a mural painter, watercolorist, and lithographer.

Ravilious' early work included designs published in The Woodcut. His first commission was a series of illustrations for Martin Armstrong's novel Desert. He also produced a large number of dust jackets for commercial publishers. Between 1927 and 1935 Ravilious did the engravings for five Golden Cockerel Press books.

Ravilious worked for a wide range of clients including the BBC, Austin Reed, London Transport, John Murray, Wisden's cricketer's almanack, the Monotype Corporation and the ceramics company Wedgwood. He also engraved initials for Kynoch Press and vignettes for Curwen Press.

This range of Ravilious' work is well represented in this lively exhibition which was put together by Graham Moss whose Incline Press was also responsible for the marvellous St Bride notebook, the profits from which are going towards the library.

exhibition The development of information design

May 2003. This exhibition traced the development of information design from Gutenberg to the present day and showcased some of the notable innovations along the way, in areas as diverse as road signage and computer interfaces.

Additional highlights included the use of four-colour letterpress printing by Charles Whittingham in the first six books of The Elements of Euclid (an early example of the use of colour to visually explain the complexities of geometry) and Charles Joseph Minard's amazing map of Napoleon's march to Moscow which shows, amongst other things, the course taken in his advance and retreat, the size of the army at each stage, and how long each stage took.

There was also an opportunity to view some of the work done by Boag Associates, the most intriguing example of which was surely the 'red-reveal map'. Printed using the red-reveal technique this patchwork map of different reds is visually interesting but not particularly informative when viewed normally. When viewed through red glasses however it reveals a wealth of interesting local information.

As perhaps should be expected from an information design company the exhibition was both visually attractive and clearly presented providing an entertaining and informative tour of developments in the design of information since Gutenberg's day.

talk Barry McKay: Chap Books

11 March 2003 Barry McKay's lecture, full of amusing details from British social and printing history, brought to light the complex social relationship of chapmen to the communities that they visited. This lecture focused on the role of chapbooks and chapmen in disseminating a common culture through the medium of cheap print.

Thereafter followed Barry presented case studies of several printers operating between 1760 and 1820 in the far North-West of England; an area of some interest in that it falls between the major production centres of Newcastle and Glasgow. The texts they selected ranged from pan-European tales and romances to minutely local folk songs, and the illustrations they employed also appear to form part of a common visual culture. In many instances the images can be identified as having spread, often throughout the country, from an earlier 'illustrative' rather than purely 'decorative' origin. There were lots of pictures to look at.

Barry's lecture was attended by an unusually full house and the gathering after the lecture lasted well beyond closing time! It was an enjoyable evening for those who stayed to ask Barry follow up questions and socialize with other Friends.

exhibition Chapbooks and chapmen

Spring 2003. The recent exhibition at St Bride accompanied Barry McKay's forthcoming book on chapbooks and chapmen. It showcased over 100 delightful chapbooks, including some modern examples as well as chapbooks which survived from the vast quantity which were printed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Chapbook is a generic term to cover a particular genre of pocket-sized booklet, popular from the sixteenth through to the later part of the nineteenth century. Chapbooks provided a form of popular history at once fantastic and entertaining; they carried Godly sentiments, set riddles, told fortunes and, perhaps more than any other single topic, gathered together contemporary popular songs. In effect, chapbooks were an important medium for the dissemination of popular culture of and to the common people. They were a medium of entertainment and information, and certainly in the case of 'historical' subjects, one where a strict attention to the accuracy of information need not necessarily be the primary function. Generally speaking, chapbooks were not made to the most exacting production standards. Harry Weiss wrote, with some justification: 'the printing in many cases was execrable, the paper even worse, and the woodcut illustrations, some of which did duty for various tales regardless of their fitness, were sometimes worse than the paper and presswork combined'.

Pepys had a collection of chapbooks which he bound into several volumes. The classification which Pepys applied to his sheet ballads could equally well fit the subject matter of most chapbooks:

1. Devotion and Morality
2. History ? true and fabulous
3. Tragedy: viz. Murders, executions, and judgements of God.
4. State and Times
5. Love ? pleasant
6. Ditto ? unpleasant
7. Marriage, Cuckoldry, &c.
8. Sea ? love, gallantry & actions
9. Drinking and good fellowship.
10. Humour, frollicks and mixt.

The exhibition included a number of chapbooks which were printed in London but most were provincial and the focus was primarily on the north of England. They were representative of the broad variety of subjects found in chapbooks: tales of Robin Hood, pirate adventures, religious texts, learning aids, and wildlife books (illustrated with wood-engravings by Thomas Bewick) there was even a story about the murder of an apple pie!

If you missed out on the chance to see this wonderful exhibition and the insight it gave into the world of cheap print and popular literature, then why not have a look at some of the chapbooks in the collection at St Bride or buy Barry McKay's book next time you visit.

talk Eric Kindel: Reconstructing stencil letters, c.1700

18 February 2003. Eric Kindel talked us through the ups and downs of a reconstruction project, describing the way historical research informed the team's decisions, as well as how they were able to justify decisions where historical evidence was thin.

Eric's detailed and illustrated talk reviewed a recently completed research project to reconstruct and test an apparatus for stencilling texts. That reconstruction they produced was based on a manuscript text of c.1700 written by Gilles Filleau de Billettes, one of a group of academicians whose work for the French Royal Academy of Sciences included descriptions of French printing and related trades, and the design of a new alphabet that formed the basis of the romain du roi types. Des Billettes' text on stencilling describes equipment required for work of this kind and its systematic use, and is accompanied by an engraving by Louis Simonneau that depicts much of the equipment described.

For the small crowd of Friends who traveled despite that evening's weather, Eric also provided the opportunity to speak with him at greater length after the lecture over drinks.

It is also worth mentioning that Eric's subject of historical reconstruction raised many issues close to St Bride Library ? specifically, his lecture prompted the discussion of why we should continue to explore (and fund!) the relationship of typography to historical innovations, including hand lettering. This subject has become all the more relevant as many typographers embrace digital production but find they are and inspired by the skills associated with hand intensive techniques.

talk Nineteenth-Century Revivals: Typographical and Spiritual

Tuesday 21 May 2002. Professor William S. Peterson, best known for his work on William Morris and the Kelmscott Press.

talk Graham Moss and Kathy Whalen: Small Press in a Big Pond

Tuesday 12 March 2002.This talk intends to put the hat and coat on an exhibition which will be on display in the St Bride exhibition room during January, February and March, and which will develop a context for private press and limited edition books.

event Visit of H.R.H. Prince Charles

11 March 2002. H.R.H. Prince Charles visited St Bride Printing Library during celebrations held at St Bride's Church and St Bride Institute to mark the 300th anniversary of the beginning of daily-newspaper production in Britain.

The royal party was received by governors of St Bride Foundation in the Library's Reading Room, where he viewed a small exhibition of vernacular lettering and saw students at work. Prince Charles then proceeded to the Library's workshop and demonstration room where he used an 1844 Albion hand press to print a copy of a short extract from The Dunciad by Alexander Pope ? describing the Bridewell and Fleet Street area ? which was presented to him.

exhibition The Times: typography in the 21st Century

February?March 2002.This exhibition detailed the typeface designs commissioned by the Times since 1932. Starting with the then innovative Times New Roman, followed by Times Europa and Times Millennium, the exhibition featured the latest typeface, Times Classic, introduced into the paper during February 2002.

exhibition The page is the picture

28 January?29 March 2002. An exhibition of letterpress books printed and published by the Incline Press, Oldham. It included examples of work by Elizabeth Friedlander.

talk Elizabeth Friedlander

Tuesday 15 January 2002. Pauline Paucker will tell the story of the working life of the remarkable graphic designer Elizabeth Friedlander.

exhibition Sangorski & Sutcliffe, Bookbinders centenary celebration

2?19 October 2001. Presented by Shepherds Bookbinders, incorporating Sangorski & Sutcliffe and Zaehnsdorf.

talk Typeface developments ? 40 years on

Tuesday 18 September 2001. Dave Farey

talk Zero: Hans Schleger ? a life of design

Tuesday 8 May 2001. Pat Schleger

talk From Pirelli calendars to prayer books

Tuesday 20 March 2001. Derek Birdsall