Daniel Berkeley Updike
Encyclopedia
Daniel Berkeley Updike was an American printer and historian of typography
.
Updike was born at Providence, Rhode Island
. In 1880 he joined the publishers Houghton, Mifflin & Company
, of Boston as an errand boy. He worked for the firm's Riverside Press and trained as a printer but soon moved to typographic design. He set up on his own in 1893, and renamed his enterprise the Merrymount Press
in 1896. That same year, one of his first works with the "Merrymount Press" was "In the Old Days, A Fragment" written by his mother, Elisabeth Bigelow Updike, as reminiscences of her youth.
Initially he followed the style of William Morris
and the Kelmscott Press but soon turned towards the historical printing of the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He began to acquire fonts of his own, including some specially cut for him — Montalegro and Merrymount. He made his name as a liturgical printer for the Episcopal Church, but also undertook general jobbing and ephemeral work. John Bianchi became a partner in the press in 1915.
Updike was greatly interested in the history of printing types, and in 1922 published Printing Types: Their History, Forms and Use. An extensively revised second edition was published in 1937. He was involved in the Anglo-American 'Typographical Renaissance' of the time, together with Frederic Goudy
, Stanley Morison
, Bruce Rogers and Theodore Low De Vinne
.
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
.
Updike was born at Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. In 1880 he joined the publishers Houghton, Mifflin & Company
Houghton Mifflin
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
, of Boston as an errand boy. He worked for the firm's Riverside Press and trained as a printer but soon moved to typographic design. He set up on his own in 1893, and renamed his enterprise the Merrymount Press
Merrymount Press
The Merrymount Press was a printing company, both scholarly and craftsmanlike, founded and run by Daniel Berkeley Updike in Boston, Massachusetts, and extant during the years 1893–1941...
in 1896. That same year, one of his first works with the "Merrymount Press" was "In the Old Days, A Fragment" written by his mother, Elisabeth Bigelow Updike, as reminiscences of her youth.
Initially he followed the style of William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
and the Kelmscott Press but soon turned towards the historical printing of the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He began to acquire fonts of his own, including some specially cut for him — Montalegro and Merrymount. He made his name as a liturgical printer for the Episcopal Church, but also undertook general jobbing and ephemeral work. John Bianchi became a partner in the press in 1915.
Updike was greatly interested in the history of printing types, and in 1922 published Printing Types: Their History, Forms and Use. An extensively revised second edition was published in 1937. He was involved in the Anglo-American 'Typographical Renaissance' of the time, together with Frederic Goudy
Frederic Goudy
Frederic W. Goudy was a prolific American type designer whose typefaces include Copperplate Gothic, Kennerley, and Goudy Old Style. He also designed, in 1938, University of California Oldstyle, for the sole proprietary use of the University of California Press...
, Stanley Morison
Stanley Morison
Stanley Morison was an English typographer, designer and historian of printing.Born in Wanstead, Essex, Morison spent most of his childhood and early adult years at the family home in Fairfax Road, Harringay...
, Bruce Rogers and Theodore Low De Vinne
Theodore Low De Vinne
Theodore Low De Vinne was an American printer and scholarly author on typography.De Vinne was born at Stamford, Connecticut, and educated in the common schools of the various towns where his father had pastorates. He developed the ability to be a printer while employed in a shop at Fishkill, New...
.