St Bride Library

Street Address:	St Bride Institute, Bride Lane, Fleet Street LONDON EC4Y 8EE Tel: 020 7353 4660 Fax: 020 7583 7073
Website:	Click here »
Type:	Local/Regional government
Access policy:	Public access.
Accessibility:	The St Bride Library welcomes readers with disabilities. Please telephone in advance on 020 7353 4660 to inform of requirements
Opening hours:	Tuesday 12 noon ? 5.30pm, Wednesday 12 noon ? 9.00pm, Thursday 12 noon ?5.00pm.

Collections

The library contains the following collections (subjects are in brackets)

George I. Fowler collection of hat tip stamping designs
One box Mounted sketches, artwork, proofs and samples showing hats and manufacturerÂ’s crests; sample books probably c.1890, c.1900 and c.1908; album of mounted samples of hat makersÂ’ crests, not dated; George FowlerÂ’s business card. ,
(Graphic design)

C. E. Hall printed circuits
One box Text of a talk given to South Dorset Amateur Radio Society on his experiences in industrial screen printing 1945–1980. At first printing tuning dials for radio receivers then – from 1948 – working with printed circuits; in particular, the development of the ‘Thickfilm’ circuit for which Hall’s company, DEK, manufactured machinery. Covering letter dated 15 February 1993. Two boards with mounted samples: stages in the production of a Thickfilm hybrid circuit; stages in the production of three layered conductor tracks for a Thickfilm circuit.,
(Electronic circuits, Electronic engineering, Printing methods)

Kinneir and Calvert road sign artwork
One box Six card scale models of road sign boards to the specification of Kinneir and Calvert adopted for the United Kingdom. One piece of artwork on card marked up for photographic reduction. ,
(Motorways, Road signs, Signs and signboards)

Eyre and Spottiswoode Church of England Alternative Service Book
Eight boxes. First, third, fourth, fifth and final proof sets (1979–80) for the Alternative Service book of 1980; publisher’s editorial and production correspondence from initial proposals in 1968 to completion in 1980 including estimates from typesetting and imagesetting suppliers and publicity; sample page layouts; Keith Murgatroyd: ‘Uncommon prayer book’, Typographic 22, August 1893 pp.12–14. ,

A.Typ.I. (Association Typographique Internationale)
Gift of John Dreyfus, 1972. 10v. in four boxes. Correspondence and reports, 1955–68, concerning the foundation of the Association (styled Union Typographique Européenne, 1955–6, then Union Typographique Internationale, 1956–7); the campaign for copyright protection of typefaces and a moral code to be observed by members as an interim measure; the licensing of type designs; the relationship of the Association with the International Center for the Typographic Arts, New York, with the Journal of typographic research and with the A.Typ.I subcommittee Comité des Fonderies Typographiques (Ausschuss der Schriftgiessereien). The material is generally in English or French; some is in German.,
(Printing)

Thomas Bensley letters
Deposited by the Department of Manuscripts, British Library, 1974. Photocopies of 21 manuscript letters from the printer Thomas Bensley (1760?–1835) to F. J. Du Roveray, 1799–1810, concerning the production of books, estimates for printing, problems with production or obtaining adequate paper supplies, experiments with a new typeface, book illustration, etc. Also a collection of 19 letters to Du Roveray from other correspondents (Robert Bowyer, Charles Pelichet, G. Testolini, Jeremiah Dyson, Brian Troughton) and drafts of four letters by Du Roveray. Some of the material concerns the illustrated folio edition of David Hume’s History of England printed by Bensley (10v., 1806; accession 37198). The originals, previously the property of Miss E. A. T. Winchester, were sold by Sotheby, 8–9 October 1973, lot 443, and are now in the Huntington Library, San Francisco.,
(Business records, Letters (documents), Printing)

Adam and Charles Black Co. Ltd
Gift of A. & C. Black Co. Ltd, 1974. Nine boxes of copper and steel plates engraved for book illustration, including title pages and frontispiece for an edition of Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley novels issued by Cadell (Edinburgh, 1829–32) and some topographical work of J. M. W. Turner. ,
(Engravings)

Chapbooks
Reed Collection. About 260 chapbooks, songbooks and reciters, chiefly British, ca 1750–1900, arranged by place of publication. All are folded, but a substantial number are unopened. Partial title index made by Talbot Baines Reed (9618). Typescript list by place of publication [1950] (29052). ,

Almanacs
Mostly from the Reed Collection. 163 almanacs, including 25 pre-1701 and 100 of the 18th century, all published in London. Some are loose but most are bound in year sets. ,
(Almanacs)

Harry Carter
Gift of Harry Carter, ca 1978. Nine boxes, three folders, typefounders’ punches. Notebooks, sketches, working papers, drafts, typescripts and proofs of articles, reviews and lectures by Harry Carter (1901– 82). Proofs, offprints, and correspondence relating to his collaboration with George Buday on Miklós Kis and the ‘Janson’ types. Correspondence and proofs relating to the translation of Charles Enschedé’s work on the history of typefounding in the Low Countries, published as Typefoundries in the Netherlands (1978). The internal file kept on this work by the Oxford University Press has been added to this collection. Punches for a Hebrew and a roman type, and for sundry characters.,
(Printing industry)

Book jackets
About 1000, chiefly British and German book jackets of ca 1950–60, but some earlier. Arranged by country, then by publisher.,
(Book design, Publishing industry)

Anthony Froshaug: examples of typography
One box. 45 sheets of mounted examples of FroshaugÂ’s work: finished items including letterheads, cards, booklets, posters, periodical layouts and brochures; typographical specification layouts.,
(Graphic design, Printing)

British Printing Industries Federation minutes and reports
(The BPIF was firstly Federation of Master Printers, subsequently British Federation of Master Printers before its final title) Bound minutes and reports. [?vols] Council minutes 1927–38, including supplementary minutes; Federation council minutes 1929–38; Contracts, legislation and transport committee minutes 1927–38 and Legislation committee 1939–67; London costing committee minutes 1913–20; Costing committee minutes 1913–67 and Costing subcommittee 1936-47; Management accounting committee minutes 1967–72; Finance committee 1927–60; General purposes committee minutes 1956–63; Labour committee full reports 1927–37; Labour (later Industrial relations) committee minutes (minutes of many sub-committees concerned with rates of pay for operators of various machines) 1927–79; Lithographic subcommittee minutes 1934-58; Organisation committee minutes 1927–38; Photogravure sub-committee 1929–38; Reduction of hours subcommittee 1936–7; Secretaries (of alliance members) 1927–38; Technical committee 1930–55; Trade relations sub-committee 1931–8. The minutes often give an indication of the circumstances leading to the establishment of new committees. ,
(Printing industry, Printing workers)

Chiswick Press wood blocks
Deposited by Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1962. Approximately 2,600 wood blocks, comprising the surviving collection of the Chiswick Press. Including many sets of ornaments and decorative initials engraved for Charles Whittingham (1795–1876) by Mary Byfield and others. The collection also includes punches, matrices, and type for the proprietary founts of the Press (Basle roman and Caxton). Album of proofs made from the blocks [1973] (32725). A. Warren. The Charles Whittinghams, printers New York: Grolier Club, 1896 (2014). Ornaments [specimens in use at the Chiswick Press]. London, 1954 (29228). Decorative initials [specimens in use at the Chiswick Press]. London, 1954 (29107). J. Ing. Charles Whittingham the Younger and the Chiswick Press, 1852–59. PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1985 (40872). ,
(Printing equipment)

Cards
Two boxes of menus, admission tickets, tradesmen’s cards, invitations and greeting cards, ca 1830–80.,
(Greetings cards, Menus, Tickets, Trade cards)

Blades, East and Blades
A collection including 5v. of business records, 1881–1903; a scrapbook of material printed for the Lord Mayor – invitations, menus, programmes, etc, 1876–1927 – much of the work done by BE&B; and specimens of cheques, pamphlets, cuttings, and correspondence concerning the development of papers and inks for preventing fraud involving cheques and stamps.,
(Business records, Printing industry)

Butler shorthand collection
Gift of E. H. Butler, ca 1959. About 3000 books and pamphlets, and about 100 periodicals, the library of Edward Harry Butler, journalist and author of The story of British shorthand (1951). Shorthand manuals from the 17th century to 1991 mainly for English but including some for other languages, runs of shorthand periodicals, histories and biographies, together with literary works printed in various shorthand systems. Approximately half the material is sorted and arranged in a classified sequence. ,
(Shorthand)

Bodoni ‘fogli volanti’
Reed Collection and later additions. 83 broadsheets printed by G. B. Bodoni and his widow, 1772–1834. Typescript list by Robert F. Lane (included in the portfolio). De Lama’s Catalogo (1816) annotated by Reed (5593(2)). ,
(Printers)

Broadsides
In part the gift in 1953 of George F. Wilson, who obtained the Catnach material at the sale of the collection of William Samuel Fortey (d.1901), successor to the business of Catnach. About 1100 items, including 370 18th-century ballad sheets. Broadsides, many printed by James Catnach (1792-1841) ca 1820–40, but including the work of several other printers. The collection also includes 370 18th-century ballad sheets. Typescript list (29635), and other lists located with the broadsides. W. Turner Berry and George Buday, ‘Nineteenth century broad-sheets’, Penrose annual v.49 (1955), p. 28–30 with 8p. of plates. ,
(Ballads, Broadsides, Printers)

Caxton Congress
Gift of the Printing Historical Society. A box of correspondence concerning the programme and delegates at the Caxton International Congress, 1976. ,
(Letters (documents))

Linnean Society bills and memoranda
Bills and memoranda from engravers, lithographers, printers and colourists in connection with the production of printed illustrations for the societyÂ’s publications, 18th and 19th centuries. Also tenders for the purchase of copper plates that the society wished to sell in 1912.,
(Business records, Engraving, Illustrators, Lithographers, Printers)

St. Bride Printing Library Collection
The library includes collections covering printing and related subjects: paper and binding, graphic design and typography, typefaces and calligraphy, illustration and printmaking, publishing and book-selling and the social and economic aspects of the printing, book, newspaper and magazine trades.,
(Binding, Bookselling, Calligraphy, Graphic design, Illustration, Publishing)

A. B. Barnes register of trademark applications
Two boxes of items belonging to a Manchester trademark agent. Notebook recording successfully registered trademarks, some with sketches of the mark. Last dated entries dated October 1959. Ledger recording registrations numbers and dates. Most are concerned with sewing threads. Filed loose are correspondence with clients and the Patent Office; samples of the thread labels; sketches for possible trademark designs. c.1909–c.1937. Loose papers: correspondence with clients; blank trademark application forms and agent authorisation forms. Pamphlets: Soarstát Eireann 16, 1927 (copy of the Irish industrial and commercial property (protection) act 1927); Trade Marks London, HMSO, editions of 1916 and 1929 (guide to trade mark categories); Instructions to persons who wish to register trade marks, London, HMSO (undated, after 1920).,

Caxton Commemoration 1976
Gift of the British Printing Industries Federation, 1977. Three boxes and one oversize packet of materials produced in the United Kingdom and the United States to celebrate the Caxton quincentenary, including realia, exhibition catalogues, invitations, pamphlets, menus, calendars, and press cuttings. ,
(Calendars, Catalogues, Menus, Pamphlets, Press cuttings)

Ellic Howe papers
One box Four volumes of notes and Photostats relating to type and typefounders. Two of the volumes are ringbound records in a standard format to form a catalogue of typefounders, punchcutters and printers with sources for specimens and books showing their types.The other two contain less formally arranged notes and Photostats. These are marked ‘compiled by Ellic Howe 193–’ on the inside front cover in another hand.,
(Printing)

Caslon collection
Acquired by the Monotype Corporation, 1937; deposited at the Oxford University Press, 1964; transferred to the St Bride Printing Library, 1973–7. 1051 boxes of punches from the typefoundry begun by William Caslon (1692–1766) about 1720, and continued until the liquidation of H. W. Caslon and Co. Ltd in 1936, together with some 17th century punches, cut abroad and added to the foundry in its early years. A 13v. inventory made by the firm ca 1910–30, two albums of smoke proofs (made by the Monotype Corporation), an index to the albums by Harry Carter, and his notes on cards, accompany the collection. There are also a small quantity of correspondence, 1937–8, concerning the transfer from Caslon to Monotype and the preparation of the smoke proofs, and a register of the boxes of punches which were presented to sundry printing schools by the Monotype Corporation. H. Carter. ‘Caslon punches: an interim note’. Journal Printing Historical Society no.1 (1965), p.68–70 J. Mosley. ‘Nineteenth-century decorated types at Oxford’. Journal of the Printing Historical Society no.2 (1966), p.[81–8].,