The finest books produced during the quarter century prior to the
outbreak of the Great War were almost invariably printed by the
private presses, but post-war, with the development of new
technology, the accolade of excellence passed into the hands of a
small number of commercial firms, with the Curwen Press very much
to the fore. Like those earlier printers, Harold Curwen was
inspired by the Morrisian ideal, but he did not adhere to the tenet
that 'hand made' was necessarily better than 'machine made', which
led him to become one of the pioneering figures in the technical
revolution that transformed the printing industry. Harold Curwen
joined the family firm in 1908 and by 1916 had instigated a general
replanning of the works and, aided by the wartime staff shortage,
felt able to push ahead with the installation of modern machinery.
He was in the forefront of the development of offset lithography,
which ensured that the Curwen Press would be in the vanguard of
fine colour printing throughout the next decade. Harold also
pioneered, as far as England was concerned, the pochoir technique
of hand-stencilling. 1922, was the beginning of the Curwen Press'
golden decade, during which it produced "The Woodcutter's Dog", the
English language edition of Julius Meier-Graefe's two volume
biography of Van Gogh for the "Medici Society", the exhibition
catalogue of books and manuscripts for "The First Edition Club",
Goldoni's "Four Comedies" and the delightful little pocket
engagement book, "The Four Seasons", illustrated by Albert
Rutherston. Rutherston was later to illustrate Thomas Hardy's
Yuletide in a "Younger World", the first of the Ariel Poems for
Faber & Gwyer which were to become a feature of the
collaboration between the two firms. In addition there was the
'Safety First' Calendar, adorned with Lovat Fraser's cautionary
illustrations. Following restructuring in 1933, the Curwen Press
had a further forty years of distinguished work ahead both in the
printing of books, particularly those illustrated by Barnett
Freedman, as well as jobbing work, including some of the finest
posters for the London Underground by Bawden, Wadsworth, John
Banting, Betty Swanwick, Barnett Freedman and others. "E. McKnight
Kauffer, Design" contains over 150 illustrations, many from
original artworks, and work not before reproduced. With
descriptions by Brian Webb and an introductory essay by Peyton
Skipwith. The "Design" series is the winner of the Brand/Series
Identity Category at the British Book Design and Production Awards
2009, judges said: 'A series of books about design, they had to be
good and these are. The branding is consistent, there is a good use
of typography and the covers are superb.'
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