The Nature of Type Design in the 19th C, Part Two

Back cover of the 1898 Strong Seed & Plant Co. catalog seen above.

Yesterday, in Part One I reported on the proliferation of seed catalogs during the later half of the 19th century and how they came to reflect the nature of hand-lettering styles of that era. Today I am featuring a collection of seed catalog cover designs from "America's Attic", in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution which consists of 10,000 seed and nursery catalogs dating from 1830 to the present. They not only are important historical documents from a botanical perspective, but they also provide a window into a remarkably rich history of type design, illustration, and printing in the 19th century. The designers of these ornate covers were master lettering artists and it is clear the concept of minimalism was not in the vocabulary of their day.
      Most of these early catalog covers in the mid-19th century contained very decorative typography with colorful illustrations and printed with chromolithography and wood engravings. Typically the artist would combine some decorative lettering, often drawn on a curved path, with other text on horizontal baselines. Ornamental frames and devices were also used to contain some of the lettering designs at times, as seen in the artwork of the cover directly above. Alternatively, the text might be incorporated within the illustration or it may be the only treatment that carries the entire design, as in the case of the 1872 Vick's catalog seen above.
      The Smithsonian's digital archive of these seed catalogs are an incredibly valuable resource of 19th century hand-lettering and design. The site is well-documented and represents 258 catalogs with 500 individual images for endless exploration. Most of the collection was donated by Mrs. David Burpee in 1982.

The Nature of Type Design in the 19th C, Part One

Seed companies and mail-order catalogs proliferated in America and Britain during the second half of the 19th century as transportation and postal networks improved. With new growth in urban areas throughout the US, seed and nursery companies faced increased competition and which lead to the growth of hand illustrated type designs. It wasn't enough for nurseries and seed companies to distinguish themselves from their competitors just by offering novelty plant specimens. They had to create elaborately illustrated catalog covers, often with hand-lettered type layouts. The seed catalog cover designs displayed above are not necessarily some of the most colorful or elaborate, but they are typical of some of the early type layouts. These are all from the Oregon State University Seed and Nursery Trade catalogue collection.
      James Vick was one of the merchants who dominated the floral nursery industry in upstate New York in the second half of the 19th century. They had a 100 acre nursery for growing seeds and plants, a retail store, an order and packing department, a publishing office, engravers' rooms, and a bindery for the production of catalogs. 
      Below are wood engravings from an 1873 Vick's Floral catalog which illustrate their seed warehouse and retail store which is part of an online exhibit from the American Antiquarian Society on seed catalogs in the last half of the 19th century. Tomorrow I will include some additional 19th century catalog covers from other competing nurseries and seed companies. 

The Ravages of Slime

I nearly choked on my lunch with laughter the other day after reading Alyson Kuhn's cleverly written post over at Felt & Wire about a recent home improvement project of long-time friend, Patrick Reagh who has lived and worked in Sebastopol, California as a letterpress printer for many long years. Last I heard from Patrick, he mentioned our friend Alyson was going to be writing something about his newly-remodeled shower. This puzzled me, but Patrick is always full of surprises and I knew it would be good. This time, he penned a wry parody of typographer Beatrice Warde's legendary manifesto, This is a Printing Office, and had it kiln-fired onto a tile for his new bathroom shower. This is a Shower Stall, his soapy declaration about cesspools of scum, should now withstand the ravages of slime there on his shower wall for many years to come. 

Above is a broadside of Warde's original text which Patrick letterpress printed in 2009. It hangs nearby in his bathroom, he claims, "as a reference for those who are unfamiliar with the text. You know, the unwashed masses. It is suitable for framing, and yes, there are a few available for sale should anyone be interested."
      Beatrice Warde's original version of the broadside is found on the walls of countless printing shops and has been translated into many languages over the years. It has also been cast in bronze and mounted at the entrance to the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington DC. The version you see below was set in Centaur and Arrighi types and printed for the Type Directors Club of New York on the occasion of their dinner honoring Beatrice Warde in 1950.

Just immediately below are Patrick's designs for his business cards with an uncanny likeness. I would expect nothing less of Patrick. They are perfect—portraits of a printer produced from printers' ornaments! You can find more past posts on P@ Reagh here and here, and check out Alyson Kuhn's featured post at Felt & Wire for more details and photos.
:: Thanks Alyson!
Photos below © 2011 StudioAlex.

America's First Illustrator

Displayed here are wood engravings of New York artist Alexander Anderson (1775-1870) who had a very prolific career as one of America's first commercial artists. I have written several previous posts on Anderson in the past and this probably won't be my last. So much of his work was for book illustrations, in the way of title pages, spot illustrations and headings. He also did a lot of early advertising art, lovely packaging labels and lettering for legal documents and certificates. The dude could draw. See more of his work at The New York Public Library in their Digital Gallery.