EDWARD JOHNSTON: MASTER CALLIGRAPHER

New Castle and London: Oak Knoll Press and the British Library, 2007. hardcover. Johnston, Edward. 8.5 x 11 inches. hardcover. 412 pages. First edition. Edward Johnston (1872-1944) was a man of letters - master calligrapher, typeface designer and creator of the lettering and branding for the London Underground. He was also a great teacher and philosopher. Many were, and still are, influenced by his down-to-earth ideas on calligraphy and lettering, and those who studied in his classes at the Central School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London took his ideas and views into their own classes and to their own students. Great calligraphers and letterers of today throughout the world are still influenced by Edward Johnston's work.



This detailed book by art and design historian Peter Holliday looks afresh at Johnston's work and legacy. It considers his friendships and his philosophy, the people he worked with and the influence he had on them and others. Importantly it gives details of the setting up of the craft community at Ditchling in Sussex and the craftspeople who were all drawn to the village as a result. During his career, Peter Holliday taught at Ravensbourne College of Design and worked at Ditchling Museum. He contributed to and edited the book Eric Gill in Ditchling published by Oak Knoll in 2002. Holliday passed away in November 2003 while creating this book, and the task of completing it passed to his sister, Susan Skinner. As a fellow calligrapher, she recognized the importance of this book on Johnston. With the information left to her by Holliday, Skinner contacted Sam Mullen to help her complete this book. Skinner and Mullen lightly edited Holliday's work using his impeccable research and have left the original Preface, written in 2002, untouched.