Edward Johnston
Edward Johnston | |
---|---|
Born | San José de Mayo, Uruguay | 11 February 1872
Died | 26 November 1944 Ditchling, England | (aged 72)
Nationality | British |
Education | University of Edinburgh |
Occupation | Type designer |
Edward Johnston,
He is best known as the designer of Johnston, a sans-serif typeface that was used throughout the London Underground system [2] until the 1980s. He also redesigned the famous roundel symbol used throughout the system.[3]
Early life
Johnston was born in
The family returned to England in 1875. With his father seeking work, and his mother ill, Johnston was raised by an aunt. He was educated at home, and enjoyed mathematics, technology, and creating illuminated manuscripts. His mother died in 1891, and he began to work for an uncle. He spent some time studying medicine at
After his mother's death, his father was remarried, to a sister of
Career
After studying published copies of manuscripts by architect William Harrison Cowlishaw, and a handbook by Edward F. Strange, he was introduced to Cowlishaw in 1898 and then to William Lethaby, principal of the Central School of Arts and Crafts. Lethaby advised him to study manuscripts at the British Museum, which encouraged Johnston to make his letters using a broad edged pen.
Lethaby also engaged Johnston to teach lettering, and he started teaching at the Central School in
He published a handbook, Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering in 1906. He started a second book in the 1920s but it was unfinished at his death.
In 1913, Frank Pick commissioned him to design a typeface for London Underground, and the simple and clear sans-serif Johnston typeface was the result.
In 1913, Johnston was one of the editors of The Imprint, a periodical for the printing industry. For this paper, Monotype made a complete new font: Imprint, series 101, exclusively for use in The Imprint. Actually this was the first revival character font Monotype made. In the 9 issues of The Imprint, many articles about calligraphy were included.
He has also been credited for reviving the art of modern
He influenced a generation of British typographers and calligraphers, including Graily Hewitt, Irene Wellington, Harold Curwen and Stanley Morison, Alfred Fairbank, Florence Kingsford Cockerell, Eric Gill and Percy Delf Smith.[9] He also influenced the transition from Gothic to Roman letters in Germany, and Anna Simons was a student. He also lectured in Dresden in 1912.[10] In 1921, students of Johnston founded the Society of Scribes & Illuminators (SSI), probably the world's foremost calligraphy society.
Not all his students were happy with his decision to create a sans-serif design for the Underground, in a style thought of as modernist and industrial. His pupil Graily Hewitt privately wrote to a friend:
In Johnston I have lost confidence. Despite all he did for us...he has undone too much by forsaking his standard of the Roman alphabet, giving the world, without safeguard or explanation, his block letters which disfigure our modern life. His prestige has obscured their vulgarity and commercialism.[11]
Johnston also created a blackletter-influenced design for a 1929 German edition of Hamlet.[12]
Personal life
He met Greta Grieg, a Scottish schoolmistress, in 1900, and they were married in 1903. They had three daughters. They lived in London until moving, in 1912, to Ditchling, Sussex, where Eric Gill had settled in 1907. His wife died in 1936. He was appointed a CBE in 1939. He died at home in Ditchling,[13] and is buried in St Margaret's churchyard.[14]
Edward Johnston Memorial in Farringdon Station
On 24 June 2019 a memorial was erected at Farringdon Station for Edward Johnston and his underground alphabet. Huge woodtype was mounted on the wall of the underground station, to celebrate Edward and his type.[15]
Publications
- Johnston, Edward (1906). Writing & Illuminating & Lettering. illustrations by Johnston & ISBN 0-486-28534-0.[16]
- —— (1986). Lessons in Formal Writing. Taplinger Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8008-4642-7.
- —— (1909). Manuscript & Inscription Letters. 5 plates by Gill, at least one engraved by Rooke. London: John Hogg.
- —— (1913). Jackson, F. Ernest; Mason, J. H.; Johnston, Edward; Meynell, Gerard T. (eds.). articles about calligraphy (The Imprint ed.). Covent Garden, London: The Imprint Publishing Company.
- —— (1990). Decoration and Its Uses. Tenspeed. ISBN 0-89815-401-4.
- First publication of this text appeared in "The Imprint", 1913, vol. 1: pp. 7–14, vol. 2: pp. 128–133
- —— (1914). The House of David, his Inheritance: A Book of Sample Scripts (manuscript on velum ed.). Victoria and Albert Museum, London UK.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - —— (1966). J. P. Hartman (ed.). The House of David, his Inheritance: A Book of Sample Scripts 1914 A.D. facsimile of the manuscript, original in: Victoria and Albert Museum: Victoria and Albert Museum. p. 32. ISBN 0-11-290236-7.
- —— (1971). Heather Child (ed.). Formal Penmanship and other papers. London: Lund Humphries Publishers Limited. p. 156.
- —— (1915). A carol and other rhymes. London: Hampshire House Workshops.
- —— (1937). Robert Bridges (ed.). "Penmanschip" in: in: S.P.E. Tract no. XXVIII, "English Handwriting" (second impression ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 239–245.
References
- Springer Link.
- ^ https://liblamp.uwm.edu/omeka/spcdi/exhibits/show/typography-tuesday/20th-century/type-designers/edward-johnston#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-180%2C-107%2C1613%2C2133
- ^ a b "Edward Johnston: the man behind London's lettering". London Transport Museum.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Archived from the originalon 23 November 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
- ^ "Font Designer — Edward Johnston". Linotype GmbH. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
- ^ "JOHNSTON, Andrew (1798-1862), of Rennyhill, Fife". History of Parliament Online. 2009. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023.
- ^ Johnston, Priscilla (1862). Extracts from Priscilla Johnston's journal and letters. Duke University Libraries. Carlisle : Charles Thurnam and Sons.
- ^ "Edward Johnston". Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022.
- ^ Nash, John. "In Defence of the Roman Letter" (PDF). Journal of the Edward Johnston Foundation. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ https://www.worldcat.org/title/62348120
- ISBN 1-85414-231-3.
- ^ Werner, Sarah. "Johnston's Hamlet". HiLoBrow. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ The Eric Gill Society: Associates of the Guild: Edward Johnston Archived 10 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ditchling – St Margaret (Monuments)". Sussex Parish Churches. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ "Edward Johnston: A Memorial in Type (documentary)". Retrieved 17 August 2022 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Review of Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering by Edward Johnston". The Athenaeum (4163): 161. 10 August 1907.
Further reading
- Holliday, Peter (2007). Edward Johnston: Master Calligrapher. London: British Library Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7123-4927-7.
- Johnston, Priscilla (1959, 1976), Edward Johnston, Pentalic Corporation, New York, N.Y.
External links
- The Legacy of Edward Johnston at www.ejf.org.uk The Edward Johnston Foundation
- Edward Johnston's works held at the Central Saint Martins Museum and Study Collection Archived 29 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- Edward Johnston at the Crafts Study Centre Archived 19 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- National Portrait Gallery Edward Johnston, 1937
- London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
- Edward Johnston Collection held by the Crafts Study Centre and hosted online by the Visual Arts Data Service (VADS)
- Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft holds many Edward Johnston works and personal effects
- Underground: 100 Years of Edward Johnston's Lettering for London exhibition at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft March - September 2016
- Writing & Illuminating & Lettering, 8th edition 1917 is online at The Internet Archive in various formats PDF, Plain Text, DAISY, ePub and Kindle]