The Economist - USA (2019-12-21)

22 TheEconomistDecember 21st 2019

A

fewyearsagoRussellMaret,a NewYorkartist,foundhimself

puzzlingovera question.Inthe1920sand1930ssomepre-

industrialfontswererevivedbyStanleyMorison,a greatBritishty-

pographer.Theytransformedthequalityofbook-printing.Butin

theprocessofrevivingthem,Morisonchangedthem.Whenhe

createdthePoliphilusfontfromthegreatprinterAldusManutius’s

editionof“TheDreamofPoliphilus”(1499),forinstance,hecor-

rectedthealignment.

MrMaretiscriticalofthesecorrections.“Aldus’stypesweren’t

misalignedbecausehewassomeold-timeyprinter.Hewasgetting

exactlywhathewanted.”Wasit,MrMaretwondered,theinherent

technologicallimitationsoftheearly20thcenturythatledthere-

vivaliststowanttostandardiseoldtypefaces?Orsomebroader

mechanicalmindset?

Theonlywayforhimtoworkthatoutwastocreatehisown

font.TheproblemwasthattheMonotypeCorporation,whichem-

ployedMorisonand dominatedbook-printing intheEnglish-

speakingworldfor muchofthe20thcentury,wentbustin1992,so

MrMarethadtocastaboutfortheequipmentheneeded.

Hissearchledhimtoa smallstreetinsouthLondon where,at

theendofa mews,liesa two-storeybuildingthata centuryagowas

hometotwobabyelephants.Theelephantshadbeenimported

fromIndiabytheDailyMirrornewspaper,whichwantedoneasa

mascotbutwastolditwouldneedcompanysoboughta pair;the

buildinginStockwellwasa veterinarysurgeryforcircusanimals

andwas,therefore,regardedasa suitableplacetohousethem.

Thefateoftheelephantsisnotknown,butthebuilding,whose

floorshadbeenreinforcedtocarrytheanimals’heft,hasfounda

newpurposeasthehomeofanotherweightycargo.It nowaccom-

modatesmostoftheremainsoftheBritishletterpressprintingin-

dustry,thankstotheeffortsofthe84-year-oldSueShaw.

MrsShaw,wholeftschoolat 16 andhasworkedinthebook

businessallherlife,hasa passionforbeautifulprinting.“Youcan’t

readTrollopeinTimesRoman,”shesaysinthecourseofa conver-

sationabouttypographicalfauxpas. “It’sanoutrage!Ithastobe

BaskervilleorFournier.”Herobjectionisnot merelythat itis

anachronistic—TimesRomanwascreatedin1932,halfa century

afterTrollope’sdeath—butalsothatthefontwaspro-

ducednotforbeautybuttomaximisethenumberof

readablelettersthatcouldbecrammedontothefront

pageofa newspaper.Theascendersanddescendersare

consequentlyshort;inherviewthatgivesthefonta

clinical,businesslikeairunsuitedto fiction.

Thesedayscommercialprintingisdominatedby

offset—inwhichaninkedimageistransferredontoa

smooth surfaceand thence onto paper—and digi-

tal—inwhichinkissprayeddirectlyontothepage.Let-

terpressprinting,inwhichmetaltypepressesinkonto

paper,istreatedasobsolete.Butitisletterpressthat

stirstheaficionado,particularlyinitshot-metalform,

inwhichmoltenmetalispouredintoletter-shapedap-

erturescalledmatricestocreatefreshslugsoftypeas

they are needed, rather than relying on shuffling

aroundpiecesofmovabletypecastinadvance.

MrsShawsetupherownhot-metalpressinthe

1970s,justasthebusinesswasdying.Shegota little

work,butincreasinglyfoundthathereffortswentinto

preservingtheartefactsthatsheloved.“AllLondon’s

typesetterswerecollapsing,andthereI wasbuyingup

allthesegorgeoustypefaces.”Shebought,withhelp

fromtheNationalHeritageMemorialFundandthe

ScienceMuseum,theremainsofStephensonBlake,

intowhichmanyoftheoldEnglishtypefoundershad

beenfolded;ofRobertDeLittle,a wood-letterprinter;

andoftheMonotypeCorporation’sBritishoperations.

MonotypeisMrsShaw’sgreatenthusiasm.Patent-

edin1897,itmechanisedthecompositionofprinters’

type,therebygreatlyacceleratingthewholeprocess.A

keyboardoperatorwouldinput atextby punching

holesintoa paperribbonwhichwasthenfedintoa

castingmachine,allowingentirepassagestobecom-

posedatonce,inorderandreadytoprintfrom.Mrs

ShawlovesMonotypeforitscomplexity,andforthe

vastmachinesrequiredtoproduceeach letter.“That’s

STOCKWELL AND TOKYO

Setting type

Holiday specials

1

Printing from hot-metal type became

obsolete 40 years ago, but it refuses to die