Today the Lawson Archive is proud to present “Teaching Typography,” a slightly revised version of Professor Lawson’s acceptance speech upon receiving the American Printing History Association’s Annual Individual Award in 1981 for his many books and articles on typography and his years of distinguished teaching. As its editor’s note states: “This paper is of special interest because it [...]
After a long hiatus the ASL Archivist is back on top of things and fresh posts are scheduled. Images lost in a back-up failure are being rescanned & reattached to their assigned posts. Two dozens invitations have been issued to students & friends of Professor Lawson requesting brief essays for the “Tributes” section. A few [...]
In support of the Typocurious’s 2010 theme “Type Designer of the Month,” the Lawson Archive will post a non-Printer’s Almanac article or two each month relating to whomever the type designer of the month is. The entire month of March is dedicated to Frederic W. Goudy. Here, from the February 1969 issue of Printing Impressions, [...]
In support of the Typocurious’s 2010 theme “Type Designer of the Month,” the Lawson Archive will post a non-Printer’s Almanac article or two each month relating to whomever the type designer of the month is. The entire month of March is dedicated to Frederic W. Goudy. Here, from the February 1965 issue of The Inland [...]
Frequent readers may note some sizable changes in the layout of the Archive. I have been adding fewer links in posts as this tends to slow the addition of more content. Rest assured, as I find good solid links (read “not Wikipedia”) I will add them later. I have added new images to the “Books [...]
In support of the Typocurious’s 2010 theme “Type Designer of the Month,” the Lawson Archive will post a non-Printer’s Almanac article or two each month relating to whomever the type designer of the month is. February celebrates two typographic giants: Daniel Berkeley Updike & Eric Gill. Gill does not appear often (if at all) in [...]
From the very beginning a page has existed cataloguing Lawson’s books books as author. Today marked a flurry of activity preparing individual pages for each of those books. The citations are incomplete, but as this site is a work-in-progress, I thought it better to post what material I had on hand rather than wait and [...]
Late last month I was preparing material for a future post when I found myself dwelling on articles relating to the history of the American Type Founders Company and its one time manager Steve Watts in particular. As I fixed on the history of the company I wrote to my friend Theo Rehak for a [...]
No archive would be complete without testimonies from those who knew the subject best. The ASL Archive welcomes Alexander Lawson’s family, students & colleagues to send in their remembrances of a great teacher, scholar & friend. I have issued a few invitations to begin with; many more are planned in the coming months. As these memorials [...]
Recent activity at the Lawson Archive has included the relocation of the blogroll from the sidebar to its own page. (Click on “Links” in the menu bar above.) Each link’s description still needs editing, severe editing, ruthless editing. Meanwhile, while sorting out “Composing Room.” articles for future posting, I discovered an assortment of Lawson articles that immediately followed “The Composing [...]
In support of the Typocurious’s 2010 theme “Type Designer of the Month,” the Lawson Archive will post a non-Printer’s Almanac article or two each month relating to whomever the type designer of the month is. February celebrates two typographic giants: Daniel Berkeley Updike & Eric Gill. Gill does not appear often (if at all) in [...]
In support of the Typocurious’s 2010 theme “Type Designer of the Month,” the Lawson Archive will post a non-Printer’s Almanac article or two each month relating to whomever the type designer of the month is. One of January’s two type designers is Giovanni Mardersteig. Here now, from the February 1979 issue of Printing Impressions, part [...]
The Lawson Archive’s brother blog Typocurious has begun a ambitious year-long adventure, a theme: Type Designer of the Month. In support of the Typocurious’s effort, the Lawson Archive will post a non-Printer’s Almanac article or two each month relating to whomever the type designer of the month is. January starts 2010 off with not just [...]
It was my original intention to post material according to what I think a student might find most interesting rather than post material in a chronological order. Energies & interests change, so beginning 1 January 2010, I will attempt daily posts culled from Alexander Lawson’s first book A Printer’s Almanac. A calendar-style listing of the Almanac [...]
On the eve of his 63rd birthday, I am thinking fondly of my hero Michael Bixler, typographer, printer & typefounder, who inspired me to study and practice my craft with exacting standards. He was a good student of Lawson’s and spoke often of him warmly. I learned a great deal during lunch in between our [...]
Following up on a few type case history-related posts over on the Lawson Archive’s brother site Typocurious, I post an article Professor Lawson prepared for publication in the May 1974 issue of Printing Impressions. The issue of who truly invented the California Job Case still appears to be unresolved. Thankfully scholars such as Lewis Pryor, [...]