Naturally enough, the early effect of the enthusiasm over Morris's work was the issuance of a series of monstrosities; but the very mistakes made by these zealous typographical disciples were educational, producing a momentum which finally brought excellent results. Those who copied Morris failed; those who were encouraged by his departure from the beaten track to think for themselves succeeded in retaining the basic principles upon which the work of the master printers has always firmly rested, applying them in the light of modern conditions, and giving them originality by their individual experiments. Morris's work made men think, broke down the smugness of precedent, and enabled printing to become an art.
Cobden-Sanderson's work accomplished much in helping American printing to assume a sane status after the hectic enthusiasm of the Morris period. Students of typography came to realize that William Morris belonged to the great decorators rather than to the master printers; that it was his superb presswork, and the general harmony of the factors which went into his books, rather than his typography overloaded with design, which represented his real contribution to the making of the Book Ideal. When the Doves Press, in continuing Morris's work, substituted a more classical fount of type, based upon an Italian model of the fifteenth century, there was a quick response in America in dropping the tendency towards the Gothic, engendered by the type faces cut by the Kelmscott Press. During the next ten years more original and better types were cut, and volumes were produced which carried printing as an art to a higher point than it had previously attained.
Of the types cut under the so-called Gothic influence, the “Renner” of the De Vinne Press is among the best. Theodore L. De Vinne, whose recent death removed the doyen of American master printers, was responsible for the well-sustained reputation of his Press during his active association with it. As a technical master of typography, and in his magnificent presswork, he translated himself into his books, but the exactness of his training is reproduced in his translation of Renner's design into the rigidity of modern type. The page which is reproduced here (p. 264), taken from one of the many superb Grolier Club publications produced by the De Vinne Press, shows both the Renner model and the modern expression of it as interpreted by Mr. De Vinne. The oblique serif of the e,the fancy curve to the h, and the superfluous curl at the top of the g introduce features which are foreign to the model, and give to the modern type a “jobbiness” which unquestionably detracts from the otherwise dignified appearance of the face.
The Gilliss Press, whose work is now suspended, has contributed its share to the renaissance of printing in America. Its limited editions of the books of William Loring Andrews and other volumes issued for private distribution show excellence of workmanship and harmony in conception rather than originality in treatment. Instead of specially designed type, these volumes are rich in decoration, the artistic quality of which ranks with the best.
At the Merrymount Press, Mr. D. Berkeley Updike has produced a number of volumes which have made their impress upon American typography because of his sincerity in carrying out his announced purpose of “undertaking the work of to-day in the spirit of the best days of printing.” Two special faces of type have been designed for the Merrymount Press, both of which are among the successful faces cut in America. The “Montallegro” type, designed by Herbert P. Horne, of London, is used in the volumes of the “Humanistic Library,” issued by Mr. Updike, of which a page is here given (p. 265). Of the type the London Athenæum says: “We are inclined to say not only that it is better than any of the many attempts which have resulted from Morris's revival of the art of printing, but also that it is even more perfect than any of the fifteenth-century founts on the study of which that revival was based. It is ... absolutely without affectation ... and so perfectly are the proportions of the letters harmonized that every page is a thing of beauty. We regret that it was reserved for an American printer to bring out such an admirable fount.... It is the first time that a fount has been designed in modern times which satisfies at once practical and æsthetic demands. Mr. Horne has solved a problem which has exercised us ever since we began to think again that printing was an art.”
The “Merrymount” type, designed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, is based upon fifteenth-century models, and has attracted much favourable comment. The “Holy Bible” and the “Life of Benvenuto Cellini,” from which pages are here reproduced (p. 269), are representative examples both of the type and of the typographical standards of the Press.
The writer of this present article would hesitate to include his own design of “Humanistic” type except that it has come to be accepted by typographical students as representing an approach to the art from a standpoint entirely different from that of other designers. The first types were naturally based upon the best hand-lettering of their time, yet hand-lettering, as an art, reached its zenith after printing began, in the work of the Humanistic scribes. This type is based therefore not upon an early type, but upon hand-lettering at its highest point of perfection. The pages which are shown here (pp. 266 and 267) have been taken from “The Triumphs of Francesco Petrarch,” produced at the University Press under the writer's supervision. An examination of these pages will show that the principle upon which the fount is cut differs radically from that shown in regular modern types, namely, the ascending letters are short and the descending letters long. The designs of the letters closely follow those of the handwritten model, yet avoid the inevitable slight irregularity of such work, which would prove unpleasant in a printed page. Instead of a single character for each letter, a certain variety is introduced by having several characters, the compositor being trained to use the different forms exactly as the hand would automatically make a change in hand-lettering. Charles Eliot Norton says of this: “Most modern type lacks freshness and individuality, and the new fount to which the name 'Humanistic' has been given shows its contrast to the familiar dry, mechanical form. There is attractive freedom and unusual grace in its lines, derived immediately from the manuscript model, but adapted to the necessary rigid requirements of print.”
Among other important volumes produced at the University Press are those decorated by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and Will Bradley, two artists whose work in book-decoration stands in a class by itself. Much of Goodhue's work reflects the Morris influence, as will be seen in the page shown from “Esther” (p. 268); but his ability in original design is indicated by the border and initial of the “Songs of Heredia,” which is given on the same page.
Bradley's work evidences the greatest versatility of any decorative artist America has produced. Some of his work shows Beardsley's influence, but no single influence could control so original a genius as Bradley has proved himself to be. The two examples reproduced here (pp. 270 and 271) represent the extremes in his work—one drawn with a delicacy and accuracy of line which is marvellous in its execution; the other bold and heavy, giving a woodcut effect.
No one artist-printer has contributed so much to American typography as Bruce Rogers, whose “Montaigne” type is easily the best and most practical of any special face, and whose productions while associated with the Riverside Press are marked by an originality and a consistency of excellence beyond what has been attained by any other American printer. He, better than anyone else, through his knowledge of types and his skill as a designer, has given expression to the basic principles of the old-time master printers awakened by modern conditions. His monumental folio edition of Montaigne—pages of which are reproduced here (pp. 272 and 273)—demonstrates a harmony of effect eminently appropriate to the style and period of its contents. The type itself is based upon an early French model, and the decorations and the initial letters (p. 274) are free renderings by Rogers of the original designs by Tory, in which the retention of the designer's spirit is admirably accomplished.