Stanley Morison

For more information on Stanley Morison, visit Britannica.com.

(b Wanstead, Essex, 6 May 1889; d London, 11 Oct 1967). English typographic designer and writer. He began his career at 14 as a bank clerk in London. A keen interest in typography and type design led him to a job on The Imprint (1912-13), a short-lived periodical aimed at improving standards in printing. He then joined the publishing firm of Burns and Oates, where from 1913 to 1917 he learned editing and book design. He worked (1919-21) for the English book designer Sir Francis Meynell (1891-1975), founder of the Nonesuch Press, at Pelican Press, then for the Cloister Press in Manchester (1921-2). In 1922 he helped launch a new typographic magazine, The Fleuron, with the English typographic designer Oliver Simon (1895-1956), and in 1923 his criticism of the Monotype Corporation's range of typefaces led to him being appointed its typographic adviser, which enabled him to expand on his ideas; he remained Monotype Corporation's consultant until his death. He revived and adapted antique typefaces such as Garamond (1922), Baskerville (1923) and Bembo (1929), and commissioned new typeface designs from artists and craftsmen like Eric Gill (e.g. Gill Sans, 1928) and Berthold Wolpe (Albertus, 1935-40). In addition he was adviser to the Cambridge University Press from 1924 to 1959.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

Most widely known for his considerable writings on the history and practice of typography, Stanley Morison also played an important professional role in the field with several important consultancies. These included his work (1922-7 and 1947-59) for the Monotype Corporation, as well as his role as advisor to several influential publishers including the Cambridge University Press and The Times newspaper, the redesign of which he oversaw in 1931-2. This included his classic, clearly articulated, and extremely legible design of the Times New Roman typeface. Morison had no formal design training but gained his knowledge from early experience in the printing and publishing world, beginning with the Imprint journal which he joined in 1915. After the First World War he worked for the Pelican Press, commencing in 1919, later joining the celebrated, yet essentially conservative, periodical the Fleuron, which he edited from 1926 to 1930. His typefaces for the Monotype Corporation were widely admired and included a number of revivals such as Garamond (1922), Baskerville (1923), and Fournier (1924), also commissioning from Eric Gill typefaces such as Perpetua (1925) and Gill Sans (1928). He was also responsible for book design and production at Gollancz between 1928 and 1938. Morison's own books included The Craft of Printing (1921), Four Centuries of Printing (1924), The Typographic Arts, Past Present and Future (1944), and Printing the Times since 1785 (1953).

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

Stanley Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was an English typographer, designer and historian of printing.

Born in Wanstead, Essex, and self-taught, having left school after his father abandoned his family, Morison became an editorial assistant on Imprint magazine in 1913 . As a conscientious objector he was imprisoned during the First World War, but became design supervisor at the Pelican Press in 1918 .^[1]

In 1922 he founded the Fleuron Society dedicated to typographical matters (a fleuron being a typographic flower or ornament). He edited the society's journal The Fleuron from 1925 to 1930 . The quality of the publication's artwork and printing was considered exceptional. From 1923 to 1925 he was a staff editor/writer for the Penrose Annual, a graphics arts journal.^[1]

From 1923 to 1967 Morison was typographic consultant for the Monotype Corporation. In the 1920s and 1930s, his work at Monotype included research and adaptation of historic typefaces, including the revival of the Baskerville and Bembo types. He pioneered the great expansion of the company's range of typefaces and hugely influenced the field of typography to the present day.^[1]

Morison was also typographical consultant to The Times newspaper from 1929 to 1960 and in 1931, after having publicly criticised the paper for the poor quality of its printing, he was commissioned by the newspaper to produce a new easy-to-read typeface for the publication. Times New Roman, the typeface Morison developed with graphic artist Victor Lardent, was first used by the newspaper in 1932 and was published by Monotype in 1933.^[2][3]

Morison edited the History of the Times from 1935 to 1952 and was editor of the Times Literary Supplement between 1945 and 1948 . He was elected a Royal Designer for Industry in 1960 and was a member of the editorial board of Encyclopædia Britannica from 1961 until his death in 1967 in London.

Other typefaces designed by Morison for the Monotype Corporation include Blado (1923) and Bembo (1929).

Contents 1 Selected publications 2 References 3 See also 4 External links

Selected publications

• Four centuries of Fine Printing; Two Hundred and Seventy-two Examples of the Work of Presses Established Between 1465 and 1924, 1924
• Type Designs of the Past and Present, 1926
• The Typographic Book, 1450-1935: A Study of Fine Typography Through Five Centuries
• Calligraphy 1535-1885: A collection of seventy-two writing-books and specimens from the Italian, French, Low Countries and Spanish schools
• First Principles of Typography, 1936
• Letterforms , 1968
• A Tally of Types
• On Type Designs Past and Present: A Brief Introduction, 1962
• Politics and Script, 1972

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Carter, H. G.; rev. David McKitterick (2004). Morison, Stanley Arthur (1889–1967). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 
2. ^ http://www.typolis.de/version1/engl/ftimes.htm Typolis article
3. ^ Loxley, Simon (2006). Type: the secret history of letters. I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. pp. 130—131. ISBN 1 84511 028 5. 

See also

• List of AIGA medalists

External links

• Linotype > Font Designers > Stanley Morison
• The story of Stanley Morison's book on John Fell published by the Old School Press
• Short entry on Morison and Times New Roman font;font specimen; and *picture of Morison at Typolis
• Myfonts.com - Information regarding the Times Family

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)