Stanley Morison, Man of Letters
by Beatrice Warde

The Fleece Press often pays homage to artists and their art, but has occasionally also published works on designers of typefaces. Of course, type and its design is of high importance to the Press, underpinning every book that is produced, and so it is only right that some of the output of the Press is dedicated to originators and creative minds in this field. Thus, in 1987, I took the opportunity to reprint the obituary of Stanley Morison, whose influence on typography is second-to-none. This was the first of two miniature books relating to typographers, the other relating to John Baskerville.

To briefly touch on Morison’s achievements, in his capacity as adviser to the British Monotype Corporation, he commissioned numerous original typefaces and revived many others. Times New Roman, perhaps the most ubiquitous typeface of the late 20th and 21st century, was commissioned and conceived by Morison, and he had a hand in the renaissance of typefaces like Bell and Bembo. Many of the typefaces that were produced with his oversight are still popular today.

This miniature book reproduces his obituary, published in October 1967 and written by his colleague Beatrice Warde. The book, as well as being a lovely, short account of Morison’s life, allowed me to be creative and play around with some of the type I had stored away. The book is bound in Oxford shirt cloth, a reference to Morison’s smart dress sense, although in reality, he only ever wore a black suit and tie with a white shirt!

This miniature was published in 1987. There were 240 standard copies, priced at £30 each.