The latest of our archive collections to be added to the online catalogue is a small collection relating to the Chiswick Press. The collection came to us via the printing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode, which had purchased the Chiswick Press in 1944. The main administrative archives of the Chiswick Press are held by the British Library. The St Bride collection includes 30 cases of printing blocks that made up the surviving stock of the Chiswick Press and volumes of printed proofs, which include annotations and pricing details. The collection displays many of the ornaments and decorative initials the Press became known for. This collection sits alongside our collection of books printed by the Chiswick Press.
The Chiswick Press was set up in 1811 by Charles Whittingham I (1767-1840), a printer who served as an apprentice in Coventry before establishing his first small press in 1789 in a garret off Fleet Street, London. Whittingham established himself as a pioneer of printing affordable, small editions of popular classics, but turned his focus to illustrated books after setting up the Chiswick Press.
Whittingham’s nephew, Charles Whittingham II (1795-1876), inherited the Press on his uncle’s death in 1840. Prior to this, Whittingham II had apprenticed with his uncle and worked as a partner for the Chiswick Press from 1824-28, before establishing his own press at 21 Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London. In 1852, Whittingham II moved the business out of Chiswick to his larger Tooks Court premises.
Under Whittingham II, the Chiswick Press became known for fine artistic printing and the use of ornamented initials. It produced some of the finest examples of nineteenth-century English printing, including The Diary of Lady Willoughby (1844) and some of the early designs of William Morris. The use of the old face roman types of William Caslon in The Diary of Lady Willoughby is credited with prompting a revival of the Caslon type.
The iconic ornamentations used by the Chiswick Press were mostly designed by wood-engraver Mary Byfield (1795-1871), with design and engraving work also contributed by Whittingham II’s daughters, Charlotte and Elizabeth Eleanor, who were trained by Byfield.
Charles Whittingham II died in 1876. In 1880, the Chiswick Press was purchased by the publisher George Bell, operating it under the name Charles Whittingham & Co. – a name sometimes used by the two Charles Whittinghams. The business went through a number of different ownerships, until it ceased operation in 1962.
You can see the Chiswick Press collection by making an appointment in our reading room, open every Wednesday 12-3pm and 3:30-6:30pm. Please email library@sbf.org.uk to book a space.
St Bride Foundation 