Stephenson Blake is an engineering company based in Sheffield, England. The company was active from the early 19th century as a type founder, remaining until the 1990s as the last active type foundry in Britain, since when it has diversified into specialist engineering.
The type foundry began operations in July 1818 by silversmith and mechanic William Garnett and toolmaker John Stephenson, financially supported by James Blake. That November, news came that the breakaway Caslon foundry (formed when William Caslon III left the original firm and acquired Joseph Jackson's foundry in 1792§ (Caslon foundry 1716; 1764; etc. §) was put up for sale by William Caslon IV. In 1819 the deal was concluded and Blake, Garnett & Co. were suddenly in charge of one of England's most prestigious typefoundries. In 1829 Garnett left to become a farmer. The company was renamed Blake & Stephenson in 1830, but Blake died soon after. It became Stephenson, Blake & Co. in 1841-1905. John Stephenson died in 1864, the year after he handed control to his son Henry. In 1905 the firm purchased Sir Charles Reed and Sons Ltd. It was then known as Stephenson, Blake & Co., and Sir Charles Reed and Sons between 1905-1914. In 1914, without any change in proprietorship, the business was converted into a private limited liability company. The early 1900s the foundry had ventured into steel making and tool production, which would prove to be the core business of the current firm Stephenson, Blake and Co., Ltd. from until 2004 when Tom Blake (5th Generation) retired.[1]
Fry's Type Street Letter Foundry via merger of Sir Charles Reed & Sons in 1905. Sir Charles Reed & Sons historically purchased Edmund Fry & Son in 1828 via the William Thorowgood Foundry 'Letter Foundry to His Majesty' which changed the Company name three times: Thorowgood and Besley 1838-1849; Robert Besley & Co 1849-1861; till it was Reed & Fox in 1861-1877.
The foundry also acquired some materials from Miller & Richard when it was wound up in 1952.[2]
Dissolution
While the foundry was still producing some type in zinc as late as 2001, the foundry had shut down by 2005 when the matrices and other typographic equipment, by then of little commercial value (but of great historical value), were passed to the Monotype Corporation, becoming a key part of the Type Museum, London. The Heritage Lottery Fund funded the work at the suggestion of Susan Shaw in 1996 so that the machinery and equipment of Stephenson Blake (and Robert DeLittle of York) could be loaded up and sent to South London.[3]
Typefaces
The foundry types produced by Stephenson Blake fall into three categories: those designed in-house, those designed by firms subsequently merged into Stephenson Blake, and those designs licensed from other foundries.[4]
Playbill (1938, Robert Harling), an updating of a nineteenth-century French Clarendon face.
Podium (1927), later digitized as Podium Sharp by Mateusz Machalski.
Revue (1968, Colin Brignall)
Windsor (1905, Elisha Pechey), punches by William Kirkwood.
Designs of predecessor corporations
Alexandra (SB 1911), from matrices acquired from the Reed Foundry.
Ancient Black (1582, SB 1904) from original matrices acquired by the Reed Foundry. Originally English No. 2 from the stock of Wolf, a London printer, passed to John James Foundry, then to Fry.
Baskerville (1795, SB 1906, Isaac Morre) from original matrices acquired by the Reed Foundry from the Fry Foundry.
Caslon Egyptian - the first commercial sans-serif typeface, created by the Caslon foundry. Inherited as a single-size font, later with increased popularity of the style other sizes cut.[7] Caps-only.
Mercury Script (1936, SB 1950, Erich Mollowitz), acquired from Stevens, Shanks, originally cast by Trennert as Rheingold. Also copied by Weber Typefoundry as Forelle.
Stephenson & Blake is now a company which specializes in High Frequency Welding brass electrodes and CNC machining for all types of brass welding/cutting dies and has a huge collection of samples and products which are machined to order.
Their in-house machining/engineering department make tooling for any kind of plastic welding, and because of the CNC machining department, can make extraordinary dies which are impossible to make out of tooling rule.
In December 2007, Stephenson & Blake acquired Nu-Gauge engineering, who are a major manufacturer to the glass gauge industry in the United Kingdom. Nu-Gauge engineering has been merged to within Stephenson & Blake, and will make any type of gauge to order with extremely tight tolerances.
In December 2009, Stephenson & Blake acquired the steel rule tooling business from DR Tooling Ltd; They now design and manufacture steel cutting tools alongside their High Frequency Welding tools.
In 2010 Stephenson & Blake acquired the Brass Welding/High Frequency Welding rule business from Caslon. Stephenson & Blake now manufacture the whole of Caslon's High Frequency Welding Rule range alongside their own inventory.
Use within Sheffield
The University of Sheffield uses two fonts "TUOS Stephenson" (serif, originally designed by S&B) and "TUOS Blake" (sans serif) as part of their corporate identity.[10]
^Book: Printing Types composing room equipment condensed edition Stephenson, Blake & Co, Ltd. 1927, The letter foundry Sheffield England
^Mosley, James (1984). British Type Specimens before 1831: a hand-list. Oxford Bibliographical Society, Bodleian Library in association with the Dept. of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading. p. 68. ISBN9780901420114. Miller & Richard was wound up in 1952. Matrices for a few types were acquired by Stephenson, Blake & Co. Ltd., Sheffield, but most of the materials appear to have been dispersed.
^"Susan Shaw obituary". the Guardian. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
^List based upon the following sources: • Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983, ISBN0-7137-1347-X. • Millingoton, Roy Stephenson Blake: The Last of the Old English Typefounders Oak Knoll Press, New Castle Delaware, 2002, ISBN1-58456-086-X.
^Devroye, Luc. "Stephenson Blake". Type Design Information Page. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
^Also called Wide Latin, e.g. by Microsoft Typography: Wide Latin font family
^Mosley, James. . Typophile (archived). Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Bramley, Ellie Violet (13 January 2015). "Subliminal power of city fonts". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
^Tankard, Jeremy. "Commissions: Connect Sheffield". Jeremy Tankard Typography. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
^Tankard, Jeremy. "Wayfarer". Jeremy Tankard Typography. Retrieved 31 July 2016. Application of the original Granby Condensed type was, however, difficult practically. It was not available in digital form, and felt to be just too condensed, with the proportion of ascender to x-height, too uncomfortable for use on the signing project. So there arose an opportunity to design a new typeface and at the same time tailor it to the specific needs of the Sheffield project. It was also an opportunity to widen the typographic references for the new font. I was keen to look at other early sans serif types, especially those from Stephenson, Blake and most notably their Grotesque series. These most idiosyncratic of designs are full of warmth, have an informal rhythm and a vitality to their shapes, all of which help create interesting word patterns. The rhythm of Wayfarer is similar to that of Granby, but it is combined with an approach to character detailing which echoes the informal variety found in the Grotesques.
External links
website
Stephenson Blake's original Impact brochure "The Impact of Impact": pages , , ,
April 14, 2023
stephenson, blake, engineering, company, based, sheffield, england, company, active, from, early, 19th, century, type, founder, remaining, until, 1990s, last, active, type, foundry, britain, since, when, diversified, into, specialist, engineering, letterhead, . Stephenson Blake is an engineering company based in Sheffield England The company was active from the early 19th century as a type founder remaining until the 1990s as the last active type foundry in Britain since when it has diversified into specialist engineering Stephenson BlakeStephenson Blake s letterhead logo in 1950IndustryType foundryFoundedJuly 1818FounderWilliam Garnett John Stephenson James BlakeHeadquartersSheffield EnglandThe type foundry began operations in July 1818 by silversmith and mechanic William Garnett and toolmaker John Stephenson financially supported by James Blake That November news came that the breakaway Caslon foundry formed when William Caslon III left the original firm and acquired Joseph Jackson s foundry in 1792 Caslon foundry 1716 1764 etc was put up for sale by William Caslon IV In 1819 the deal was concluded and Blake Garnett amp Co were suddenly in charge of one of England s most prestigious typefoundries In 1829 Garnett left to become a farmer The company was renamed Blake amp Stephenson in 1830 but Blake died soon after It became Stephenson Blake amp Co in 1841 1905 John Stephenson died in 1864 the year after he handed control to his son Henry In 1905 the firm purchased Sir Charles Reed and Sons Ltd It was then known as Stephenson Blake amp Co and Sir Charles Reed and Sons between 1905 1914 In 1914 without any change in proprietorship the business was converted into a private limited liability company The early 1900s the foundry had ventured into steel making and tool production which would prove to be the core business of the current firm Stephenson Blake and Co Ltd from until 2004 when Tom Blake 5th Generation retired 1 Contents 1 Mergers and acquisitions 2 Dissolution 3 Typefaces 3 1 Original designs 3 2 Designs of predecessor corporations 3 3 Licensed designs 4 Successor corporation 5 Use within Sheffield 6 References 7 External linksMergers and acquisitions EditFann Street Foundry 1906 Fry s Type Street Letter Foundry via merger of Sir Charles Reed amp Sons in 1905 Sir Charles Reed amp Sons historically purchased Edmund Fry amp Son in 1828 via the William Thorowgood Foundry Letter Foundry to His Majesty which changed the Company name three times Thorowgood and Besley 1838 1849 Robert Besley amp Co 1849 1861 till it was Reed amp Fox in 1861 1877 H W Caslon amp Sons 1937 The foundry also acquired some materials from Miller amp Richard when it was wound up in 1952 2 Dissolution EditWhile the foundry was still producing some type in zinc as late as 2001 the foundry had shut down by 2005 when the matrices and other typographic equipment by then of little commercial value but of great historical value were passed to the Monotype Corporation becoming a key part of the Type Museum London The Heritage Lottery Fund funded the work at the suggestion of Susan Shaw in 1996 so that the machinery and equipment of Stephenson Blake and Robert DeLittle of York could be loaded up and sent to South London 3 Typefaces EditThe foundry types produced by Stephenson Blake fall into three categories those designed in house those designed by firms subsequently merged into Stephenson Blake and those designs licensed from other foundries 4 Original designs Edit Algerian 1908 Athenian 1889 William Kirkwood Antique Nos 1 2 3 4 1904 William Kirkwood Arabian 1904 Britannic 1906 derived from Rothbury Chatsworth 1921 Chisel 1935 Robert Harling also sold by Enschede as Bavo Consort 1956 a re issue of the original Clarendon with new weights added Coronation 1937 a knock off of Corvinus Dominus 1925 also known as Clearface Open and Handtooled Elongated Roman 1955 a revival of a nineteenth century face Ganton 1927 Granby 1930 onwards a humanist sans serif influenced by Gill Sans and Johnston Grotesque series a large family of sans serifs sold by number Impact by Geoffrey Lee 1965 June 1927 Latin Wide 1940 digitised and offered with Microsoft Office 5 6 Keyboard 1951 Robert Harling Kingston 1924 Playbill 1938 Robert Harling an updating of a nineteenth century French Clarendon face Podium 1927 later digitized as Podium Sharp by Mateusz Machalski Revue 1968 Colin Brignall Windsor 1905 Elisha Pechey punches by William Kirkwood Designs of predecessor corporations Edit Alexandra SB 1911 from matrices acquired from the Reed Foundry Ancient Black 1582 SB 1904 from original matrices acquired by the Reed Foundry Originally English No 2 from the stock of Wolf a London printer passed to John James Foundry then to Fry Baskerville 1795 SB 1906 Isaac Morre from original matrices acquired by the Reed Foundry from the Fry Foundry Caslon Egyptian the first commercial sans serif typeface created by the Caslon foundry Inherited as a single size font later with increased popularity of the style other sizes cut 7 Caps only Clarendon 1845 cast by R Besley amp Co Fann Street Foundry subsequently re issued as Consort Doric 12 1816 SB 1870 originally cast by the Caslon foundry Fry s Canon 1808 Fry Foundry privately case for use by Kynoch Press and Curwen Press Fry s Ornamented 1796 SB 1907 Richard Austin from matrices acquired by the Reed Foundry from the Fry Foundry Georgian c 1790 SB 1909 perhaps from matrices acquired from the Fry Foundry Licensed designs Edit Abbey Text SB 1919 a knock off of Bradley Text by A D Farmer amp Son Adonis 1961 Andre Cretton 8 originally produced for photocomposition by the Amsterdam Type foundry Albion 1910 SB 1919 originally made for machine composition by Lanston Monotype Amanda 1939 also known as Amanda Ronde an outside design originally known as Undine Ronde 9 Antique Old Style No 2 SB 1869 purchased from Aubert Freres Paris Art and Craft perhaps Robert Wiebking s Artcraft Bologna 1946 originally cast by ATF Doric 1 Italic 1892 John Hambur from a foundry in Hamburg Germany Doric 12 1816 originally cast by Caslon foundry Egyptian Expanded 1950 originally cast by Miller amp Richardson Goudy Modern 1918 SB 1929 Frederic Goudy originally made for machine composition by Lanston Monotype Klang 1955 Will Carter originally made for machine composition by Monotype SB later added a bold Madonna Ronde 1925 Lucian Bernhard a re casting of Bauer s Bernhard Cursive Mazarin 1921 Robert Girard a re casting of Deberny amp Peignot s Astree Mercury Script 1936 SB 1950 Erich Mollowitz acquired from Stevens Shanks originally cast by Trennert as Rheingold Also copied by Weber Typefoundry as Forelle Spartan a knock off of Copperplate Gothic originally cast by Western Type Foundry Successor corporation EditStephenson amp Blake is now a company which specializes in High Frequency Welding brass electrodes and CNC machining for all types of brass welding cutting dies and has a huge collection of samples and products which are machined to order Their in house machining engineering department make tooling for any kind of plastic welding and because of the CNC machining department can make extraordinary dies which are impossible to make out of tooling rule In December 2007 Stephenson amp Blake acquired Nu Gauge engineering who are a major manufacturer to the glass gauge industry in the United Kingdom Nu Gauge engineering has been merged to within Stephenson amp Blake and will make any type of gauge to order with extremely tight tolerances In December 2009 Stephenson amp Blake acquired the steel rule tooling business from DR Tooling Ltd They now design and manufacture steel cutting tools alongside their High Frequency Welding tools In 2010 Stephenson amp Blake acquired the Brass Welding High Frequency Welding rule business from Caslon Stephenson amp Blake now manufacture the whole of Caslon s High Frequency Welding Rule range alongside their own inventory Use within Sheffield EditThe University of Sheffield uses two fonts TUOS Stephenson serif originally designed by S amp B and TUOS Blake sans serif as part of their corporate identity 10 Sheffield City Council uses a corporate font Wayfarer commissioned from designer Jeremy Tankard that is based on Stephenson Blake s sans serif Granby and Grotesque No 9 families 11 12 13 References Edit Book Printing Types composing room equipment condensed edition Stephenson Blake amp Co Ltd 1927 The letter foundry Sheffield England Mosley James 1984 British Type Specimens before 1831 a hand list Oxford Bibliographical Society Bodleian Library in association with the Dept of Typography amp Graphic Communication University of Reading p 68 ISBN 9780901420114 Miller amp Richard was wound up in 1952 Matrices for a few types were acquired by Stephenson Blake amp Co Ltd Sheffield but most of the materials appear to have been dispersed Susan Shaw obituary the Guardian 15 July 2020 Retrieved 5 December 2020 List based upon the following sources Jaspert W Pincus W Turner Berry and A F Johnson The Encyclopedia of Type Faces Blandford Press Lts 1953 1983 ISBN 0 7137 1347 X Millingoton Roy Stephenson Blake The Last of the Old English Typefounders Oak Knoll Press New Castle Delaware 2002 ISBN 1 58456 086 X Devroye Luc Stephenson Blake Type Design Information Page Retrieved 5 September 2014 Also called Wide Latin e g by Microsoft Typography Wide Latin font family Mosley James Comments on Typophile thread Unborn sans serif lower case in the 19th century Typophile archived Archived from the original on 28 June 2014 Retrieved 15 October 2016 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link The Penrose Annual Vol 56 1962 p19 Possibly both Jaspert and Millingoton have this face confused with Bernhar s Bernhard Cursive which was also sold by SB as Madonna Ronde University of Sheffield https www sheffield ac uk marketing visual identity fonts download stephenson blake Bramley Ellie Violet 13 January 2015 Subliminal power of city fonts The Guardian Retrieved 31 July 2016 Tankard Jeremy Commissions Connect Sheffield Jeremy Tankard Typography Retrieved 31 July 2016 Tankard Jeremy Wayfarer Jeremy Tankard Typography Retrieved 31 July 2016 Application of the original Granby Condensed type was however difficult practically It was not available in digital form and felt to be just too condensed with the proportion of ascender to x height too uncomfortable for use on the signing project So there arose an opportunity to design a new typeface and at the same time tailor it to the specific needs of the Sheffield project It was also an opportunity to widen the typographic references for the new font I was keen to look at other early sans serif types especially those from Stephenson Blake and most notably their Grotesque series These most idiosyncratic of designs are full of warmth have an informal rhythm and a vitality to their shapes all of which help create interesting word patterns The rhythm of Wayfarer is similar to that of Granby but it is combined with an approach to character detailing which echoes the informal variety found in the Grotesques External links Editwebsite Stephenson Blake s original Impact brochure The Impact of Impact pages 1 2 3 4 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stephenson Blake amp oldid 1131903465 Typefaces, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
