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Information about the font designer Stanley Morison and his typefaces.
Morison is famous, not for his own designs, but for his championing of typography and his own literature of typography. He revived many typefaces and commissioned new typefaces, including Gill Sans and Times New Roman. He wrote a famous essay in 1930 entitled First Principles of Typography.
Born in Essex, he left school at 14 to work in an office. He was arrested as a conscientious objector in World War 1 and spent time in prison. He underwent a conversion to Catholicism that seemed to underpin his theories. He has been described as sombre and austere "with the countenance of a Jesuit."
Before Morison the usual typefaces used in English printing were Plantin and Caslon. Morison was the typographical advisor for Monotype. He suggested to Monotype that they remake seven typefaces from the past. This was a revolutionary change. These new creations ushered in a typographical Renaissance.
"Typography is a minor technicality of civilised life."
[NOM]
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