Curwen Press — Type Faces and a Selection of Borders, Flowers, Swelled Rules, Vignettes, etc. in Use at the Curwen Press — First Edition, 1945

Title: Type Faces and a Selection of Borders, Flowers, Swelled Rules, Vignettes, etc. in Use at the Curwen Press
Publisher / Printer: The Curwen Press, Plaistow, London E13
Date: 1945
Edition: First edition
Format: Quarto type-specimen booklet
Pagination: 8 pages
Stock Code: 004194
Location: Ephemera Drawer, Bookroom
Sleeve: Design A

First edition of this scarce and attractive 1945 Curwen Press type specimen, issued from the Press at Plaistow and intended to demonstrate the range of typefaces, borders, printer’s flowers, swelled rules and vignettes available to designers and compositors working with Curwen immediately after the Second World War. Contemporary and current specialist records identify the 1945 issue as the earliest edition of this sequence of Curwen type-specimen booklets, preceding later issues of 1951/52 and 1957.

The wrappers are strongly characteristic of Curwen’s approach to commercial and fine printing, with a bold red central panel framed by a complex black linear border and restrained typography. The title announces not merely the typefaces in use at the Press but also the ancillary decorative material available to its compositors: borders, flowers, swelled rules and vignettes. The telephone number is given as Grangewood 0012, placing the piece firmly within the working identity of the Plaistow press.

Inside, the booklet provides an unusually useful record of the Press’s actual typographic resources in 1945. The spread devoted to Display Titlings includes examples such as Cable Heavy, Chisel, Curwen Sans, Maximilian, Old Face Open Titling, Fry’s Ornamental, Orplid, Vesta, Figgins’ Shaded, Fat Face, Ultra Bodoni Extra Condensed, Times Extended Titling, Times Titling & Heavy Titling, Bodoni Bold, Ultra Bodoni and Elongated Roman. The facing page records type sizes and distinguishes between Monotype composition, Monotype display, Typefounders’ type for hand composition and poster type, making the booklet a practical working document as well as a piece of graphic design.

The later pages reproduce a large selection of borders and decorative material, including plain rules, patterned borders, ornamental bands and frame constructions. The range demonstrates the importance of ornament and typographic structure within Curwen’s visual language. These devices were not merely decorative extras but formed part of the compositional vocabulary used across books, catalogues, commercial printing and exhibition material.

The publication is important within the history of the Curwen Press because it documents the firm’s post-war typographic resources at a precise moment. The Fitzwilliam Museum records this 1945 Curwen type specimen within its collections, confirming the title and the Press as publisher.

The Curwen Press occupied a central place in twentieth-century British printing and design. Under Harold Curwen and Oliver Simon it became renowned for close collaboration between printers, typographers, illustrators and artists, and its work is associated with figures including Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious, John Piper, Paul Nash, John Nash, Barnett Freedman, Graham Sutherland and Edward Ardizzone. A type specimen such as this is therefore particularly valuable as a primary document of the practical material available within one of Britain’s most influential presses.

The present copy is in very good indeed condition, slightly creased and rubbed but otherwise clean and well preserved. The wrappers remain bright and attractive and the internal specimen pages are clean and sharply printed. Now housed in a clear acetate sleeve, Design A, for protection.

Very good indeed.

A desirable early Curwen Press type specimen and an important piece of British printing ephemera, documenting the Press’s type, ornament and border resources at the end of the Second World War and offering direct insight into the material vocabulary of one of the most important British printers of the twentieth century.

Stock code: 004194. Location: Ephemera Drawer, Bookroom. Sleeve Design A.

Why Buy from Hornseys?

Established in 1976, Hornseys is an independent specialist bookseller and gallery based in Ripon, North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. For nearly fifty years, we have bought and sold rare books, first editions, signed and inscribed books, manuscripts, historical documents, maps, prints and unusual works on paper to private collectors, libraries, institutions and clients throughout the United Kingdom and internationally.

Our approach is based on careful research, accurate identification, detailed condition assessment and transparent cataloguing. Every item is individually examined before being offered for sale. We believe that rarity alone does not make an object important: the strongest books, manuscripts and historical material combine rarity with provenance, condition, historical context, bibliographical significance and collector appeal.

Research, Expertise and Authenticity

Every book, manuscript, map, print or piece of historical ephemera offered by Hornseys is researched and catalogued individually. We examine the features that determine both authenticity and value, including edition and impression, issue points, bindings, dustwrappers, signatures, inscriptions, annotations, provenance, printing history, completeness and condition.

Where appropriate, we compare items against bibliographical references, institutional catalogues, library holdings, auction records, archival sources and other reliable evidence. Where a point cannot be established with certainty, we distinguish clearly between documented fact and informed interpretation rather than presenting an assumption as fact.

All items are offered with an unconditional guarantee of authenticity.

Accurate and Detailed Descriptions

We aim to describe each item as precisely as possible. Condition is assessed individually, with defects, restoration, incompleteness or other significant characteristics noted where relevant.

For books, this may include collation, edition and impression, dustwrapper state, binding condition and significant ownership marks. For maps and works on paper, we assess the exact edition or state, printing information, dimensions, institutional representation, provenance and physical condition.

Our photographs form an important part of each description and are intended to allow collectors to examine the item closely before purchase.

Provenance and Historical Context

Provenance can transform the significance of a book or document. We therefore place particular emphasis on establishing previous ownership, presentation inscriptions, authorial associations, institutional provenance and connections with historical individuals or events.

Where research allows, we trace these associations through contemporary records, archives and published sources. This can reveal information that is not immediately apparent from the object itself and allows us to catalogue material within its proper historical and bibliographical context.

We are equally careful not to overstate provenance. Documented ownership is distinguished from attribution, possibility or association.

Carefully Curated Stock

Hornseys does not buy simply by category. We select material because we believe it has something distinctive to offer: rarity, condition, design, provenance, historical importance, unusual subject matter or enduring collector interest.

Our stock includes particular strengths in:

Rare and collectible books; literary first editions; signed and inscribed books; children’s and illustrated books; military history; Churchilliana; fine bindings; manuscripts and historical documents; rare and historical maps; travel and exploration; original prints and works on paper; unusual historical ephemera; and specialist collecting areas including Tintin and the Collins New Naturalist series.

This breadth allows us to recognise connections between books, archives, maps and other historical material that might otherwise be overlooked.

Specialist Experience Since 1976

Hornseys has traded since 1976. That longevity matters. The rare-book and collecting markets are built not only on reference works and databases but on experience: understanding how editions differ, recognising unusual states and bindings, judging condition, identifying material that is genuinely difficult to find and distinguishing real scarcity from apparent scarcity.

We combine that long-standing experience with modern research methods and extensive comparison of institutional and commercial records. The result is cataloguing intended to be both scholarly and practical for collectors.

Condition and Completeness

Every item is physically examined before cataloguing. Where relevant, books are checked for completeness, maps and plates are counted, folding material is inspected, and bindings and dustwrappers are assessed separately.

We do not use age alone as an excuse for faults. A seventeenth-century book, a wartime map and a twentieth-century first edition are judged according to the standards appropriate to their type, while significant defects are described clearly.

Customer Service

We aim to make buying from Hornseys straightforward and informed. We are happy to answer questions about condition, provenance, edition, rarity, bibliographical points or collecting significance, and additional photographs can be provided where required.

Orders are carefully packed, with UK delivery tracked and insured and international orders sent by appropriate tracked and insured services.

Collectors are also welcome to visit our gallery in Ripon to view material in person.

Returns Guarantee

All items are offered with our guarantee of authenticity and may be returned within fourteen days of receipt for any reason, provided they are returned in the same condition in which they were supplied.

We simply ask that you contact us before returning an item. If an item has been incorrectly described or supplied in error, we will also cover the appropriate return postage.

Buy with Confidence from Hornseys

Whether you are acquiring a first edition, building a specialist collection, researching a historical association or simply buying an object that fascinates you, our aim is the same: to offer carefully selected material, accurately researched and honestly described.

After nearly fifty years in the trade, Hornseys continues to seek out books, maps, manuscripts, prints and historical material that combine rarity, provenance, condition and genuine cultural or historical interest.