Author: Dr. Caroline Archer, a printing historian.

Publisher/Date: British Library /Oak Knoll Press, 2000 (First printing)

Format/Condition: NEW hardcover with dust jacket is in fine condition. 222 pages, index. Illustrated in b/w. Measures 7×10 inches.

Description: This is the biography of a major British printer, one that should be much better known to historians of printing and in particular all those who are interested in how printing types come to be adopted, utilized and promoted by a press. The Kynoch Press, which flourished for over a century, was the in-house printer to the huge ICI group, but is also produced quality printing for a range of other customers, work which eared it a reputation as one of the foremost British printing houses of the period.

The strength of the Press lay in its composing room, which pioneered the introduction of 19th century English revival types into Britain during the 1930s, an approach then successfully adopted by the Curwen Press and others. In addition, its unique collections of artists’ and European types attracted British industrial clients with an interest in design.

After 1945, the typographic reputation of the Press was maintained as it developed a progress and contemporary type list. The change to photocomposition was embraced and in its latter years the Press was innovative in embracing new opportunities, in particular with a complete foreign-language service offered to export businesses. However, the economic recession of the early 1980s combined with other factors forced ICR to question the viability of an in-house printer, and after an abortive sale of the Press was closed in 1981.

The history of the Kynoch Press that Caroline Archer offers is a result of exhaustive research, enriched by personal accounts from surviving staff which give a fascinating perspective on the half-century from 1930 to 1980. This work contains very detailed listings of the types held by the press at every period.