Chauncey Hawley Griffith papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Chauncey Hawley Griffith papers
- Date
- 1903-1968, undated (inclusive)
- Creator
- Griffith, Chauncey Hawley, 1879-1956
- Extent
- 8.6 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Printers.
- Type and type-founding.
- Drawing.
- Type ornaments
- Typography.
- Graphic design (Typography)
- Linotype
- Newspaper layout and typography
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged into 6 series by subject and format: Typeface design and development, Mergenthaler Linotype Company, William Addison Dwiggins, Personal papers, Design pamphlets and writings, and Photographs.
- Preferred Citation
- 72m31 : [identification of item], Chauncey Hawley Griffith papers, 1903-1969, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Born in a small town near Ironton, Ohio in 1879, Chauncey Hawley Griffith moved with his family to Lexington, Kentucky when he was ten years old. As a young adult, he worked in several capacities for the Lexington news and print industry. He started at the Lexington Morning Transcript as a route carrier and in 1898 managed the advertisement room for the Lexington Herald, where Griffith first had occasion to work with Linotype machinery. In 1906, Griffith began working as a salesman based in New Orleans for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. He transferred to the New York office in 1915, where he worked as assistant to the president and managed type designing and matrix manufacture until he was elected by the board as Vice President for Typographic Development in 1936.
- During his many years at Mergenthaler, Griffith championed economical typeface design and print legibility. He was instrumental in improving the readability of newspaper fonts, particularly with the design of Ionic No. 5, which, introduced in 1926, was "the first face specifically designed for newspaper reproduction. It was an instantaneous success and more papers used it than any other typeface at any other time. From this grew the entire family of the famed Linotype Legibility Group: Excelsior, Opticon, Paragon, and Corona." In 1938, Griffith designed the Bell Gothic typeface for maximum legibility in telephone books, where small type and newsprint paper often hindered readability.
- Griffith resurrected and adapted numerous historic typefaces, including Baskerville, Janson, Excelsior, Granjon, Monticello, and Poster Bodoni. He also adapted a host of foreign language characters to the Linotype, including Amharic, Devanagari, and other Eastern scripts.
- In addition to Griffith's own typeface projects, he solicited renowned artists William Addison Dwiggins and Rudolph Ruzicka to produce original typeface designs for Mergenthaler. Dwiggins's typefaces Caledonia and Electra, along with Ruzicka's Fairfield and Primer, were designed under Griffith's direction and are considered part of "the nucleus of what has been called the American classics of type."
- Griffith retired from Mergenthaler in 1949, but continued to work for the company as a consultant until his death in 1956.
- Sources:
- "Much Lexington Newspaper History Given By C. H. Griffith, Former Herald Printer Who Now Is Mergenthaler Vice President." The Lexington Herald: 5. August 11, 1937.
- "Something About C. H. Griffith And a Typographic Program."The Linotype News XV (no.1): 1. August 1936.
- "CHG: He Left a Legacy of Literacy." Linotype News: 6. Spring 1957.
- Scope and Content
- The Chauncey Hawley Griffith papers (dated 1903-1969, undated; 5.23 cubic feet, 7 boxes and 3 oversize boxes) primarily comprise manuscript correspondence, drawings, and proofs that document typefaces designed and developed by Chauncey Hawley Griffith, William Addison Dwiggins, and Rudolph Ruzicka for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company in the early- to mid-twentieth century.
- The collection also includes Mergenthaler press releases and printed materials that advertise the company's machines and typefaces, writings and prints by and about Dwiggins that demonstrate his design acumen, a partial bibliography of Griffith's personal library, photographs of Griffith and his house, and correspondence and articles by Griffith that reflect his expertise in typography and Linotype printing.
- Processing Info
- Related materials that were previously integrated into this collection have been separated into different collections according to their provenance. These collections are listed in the related materials notes.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Typeface design and development, circa 1925-1968, undated
Scope and Contents
Constitutes the bulk of the collection, with correspondence, proofs, and drawings that document the development of typefaces by Chauncey Hawley Griffith, William Addison Dwiggins, and Rudolph Ruzicka for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.
Primarily comprises Dwiggins's drawings and manuscript correspondence, which demonstrate the collaboration between Dwiggins as designer and Griffith as manager to produce economical typefaces for Mergenthaler. Includes original correspondence and drawings from Dwiggins to Griffith, typescript correspondence by Griffith to Dwiggins with suggested typeface design edits, and typescript transcriptions of the original Dwiggins correspondence with explanatory annotations by Griffith.
Also includes correspondence and proofs that document historic typefaces resurrected by Griffith and correspondence and proofs for original typefaces designed by Rudolph Ruzicka under Griffith's direction.
Arranged in subseries by designer and thereunder alphabetically by typeface.
Chauncey Hawley Griffith, 1926-1956, undated
Amharic and Eastern scripts correspondence, proofs, and samples, 1934-1949, undated
Amharic keyboard diagram and Devanagari article, 1933, 1955
Astree correspondence and proofs, 1926, 1929
Baskerville original and photocopied correspondence and proofs, 1930-1938, 1954, undated
Bell Gothic correspondence and proof, 1937, 1953-1954
Bodoni correspondence and proof, 1929
Bulmer correspondence and samples, 1937, 1942
Corona clippings, 1942, 1954
Corona description, undated
Estienne book printed by G. W. Jones correspondence and proof, 1929
Excelsior description, undated
Ionic no. 5 description, undated
Janson original and photocopied correspondence, 1929-1936, 1953, undated
Monticello announcement, article, and proofs, 1954, undated
Monticello correspondence and announcement drafts, 1950-1951, undated
Monticello oversize announcement and sample, 1949, undated
Monticello oversize specimen, 1949
Newspaper headlines, correspondence and proofs, 1935-1956, undated
Opticon description, undated
Paragon description, undated
Placard correspondence and drawings, 1940
Scotch no. 2 correspondence and proof, 1930
Venezia correspondence, 1929-1930, 1953
William Addison Dwiggins, circa 1925-1961, undated
Arcadia, experimental no. 265 and no. 278, 1942-1954
Brochure and Charter, experimental no. 221 and no. 222, 1937-1955, undated
Caledonia, experimental no. 78, 1932-1961, undated
35mm microfilm of drawings and writings, undated
Brochures, 1953, 1961
Typescript correspondence and photostat negatives, 1932-1939, 1955, undated
Typescript correspondence with supplements, 1932-1939, 1955, undated
Oversize proof copies, 1933-1935
Cheltenham, 1939-1948, undated
Coptic, 1942
Eldorado, experimental no. 222 and no. 269, 1937-1953, undated
Correspondence, drawings, and proofs, 1942-1953, undated
"From the Pen of W. A. Dwiggins, A New Linotype Face-Eldorado" in Linotype News, volume 29, no. 4, p. 6, 1951 Summer
Oversize drawing, 1942
Steel pen design correspondence, 1937-1939
Steel pen design oversize drawings, 1938
Electra, experimental nos. 29, 40, 46, 55, 237, 1929-1955, undated
Correspondence, proofs, and drawings, 1929-1939, 1955, undated
Drawings, sketches, and stencils, 1929, undated
Electra bold and Electra italic, 1935-1939, undated
"Emblems and Electra" announcement brochure, layout and copy, undated
"The Evolution of Electra", 1930-1939, no. 1, undated
"The Evolution of Electra", 1930-1939, no. 2, undated
"The Evolution of Electra", 1930-1939, no. 3, undated
Linotype News, volume 32, no. 2, 1954 Fall
Oversize drawings, 1938-1939, undated
Photostat negatives, 1955
"The Evolution of Electra", 1930-1939, no. 3, undated
Experimental no. 223, 1937-1956, undated
Original correspondence and proofs, 1937-1943, undated
Annotated dossier, 1937-1956, undated
Dossier draft, 1937-1956, undated
Supplemental data, 10 point experiment, 1943-1956, undated
Experimental no. 267D, 1942-1947, undated
Falcon, experimental no. 249 and no. 266, 1929-1954, undated
Original correspondence, 1929, 1932-1936
Original correspondence, 1936-1939
Original correspondence, 1939-1942
Typescript correspondence, 1932-1954
Typescript correspondence with supplements, 1932-1954, undated
Oversize drawings, 1937-1940
Oversize drawings and proofs, 1941-1942
"The Beginning and the Completion of Revised Falcon no. 266", 1942-1953
"First Setup of Falcon, Experimental CCLXVI", 1943
- Box 72m31-02, folder 8
Scope and Contents
"W.A.D.'s prospectus and layout details of a booklet for testing the printing performance of Falcon no. 266, and copies of the booklet printed on sundry paper surfaces."
"First Setup of Falcon, Experimental CCLXVI" oversize drawing, [1943]
Granjon correspondence, 1931, 1944, undated
Greek experiments, 1945-1949
Metro series, 1929-1947, undated
Newspaper typography experiments, 1936-1943, undated
Ornaments and decorative material, 1930-1943, undated
R. H. Macy and Co., experimental no. 70, 1932-1934, undated
Stuyvesant, experimental no. 267 and no. 274, 1942-1956, undated
Original correspondence, proofs, and drawings, 1942-1948, undated
Oversize proofs, 1948
Typescript correspondence with supplements, 1942-1948, 1956
The Shirley Letters from the California Mines: 1851-1852 proofs, 1949
Tippecanoe, experimental no. 268 and no. 283, 1942-1946
Winchester, experimental no. 223 and no. 264, 1942-1955, undated
Photostat negatives and annotated correspondence, 1942-1955, undated
Transcription with originals, 1942-1955, undated
Annotated transcriptions, 1942-1955
Oversize proofs, galleys, and correspondence, 1942
"Looking Toward a Change in Lower-Case Type Forms", undated
Undeveloped experiments, circa 1925-1956, undated
Correspondence and drawings, 1948
Cursive experiments, 1934-1956, undated
Cursive oversize proofs, 1938, undated
Economical book composition, 1942, undated
Economical book composition oversize proofs, 1942
Sans serif experimental nos. 10, 11A, 11B, 63, 1929-1932, undated
Sans serif drawings, 1948
Sans serif oversize stencil, with Griffith annotation, circa 1925, 1937
Assorted and unidentified, 1929-1955, undated
Scope and Contents
Correspondence in this subseries was in envelopes marked, "Returned by CHG 2-16-55."
1929-1939
1940-1949
1942
1951, 1955, undated
Unidentified typeface, photostat measurements, undated
Rudolph Ruzicka, 1935-1968, undated
Fairfield announcements and proofs, 1938-1958, undated
- Box 72m31-02, folder 29
Scope and Contents
Draft announcement has correspondence and edits by Dwiggins.
Fairfield correspondence, proofs, and development, 1938, 1955, undated
Fairfield photostat negatives, 1937-1938, undated
Fairfield oversize negatives and proofs, 1955, undated
Harvard pamphlet correspondence, 1935-1942
Studies in Type Design announcement, 1968
Mergenthaler Linotype Company, 1931-1966, undated
Scope and Contents
Comprises press releases, pamphlets, proofs, and typographic records of typefaces designed for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. Also includes Mergenthaler annual reports, company newsletters, and pamphlets promoting Linotype machinery and supplies. Typographic records consist of brochures, advance proofs, correspondence, advertisements, new character reports, and matrix faces of types manufactured.
Advance typeface proofs, 1940, 1954-1966
Advertisement proofs, 1954-1958
Advertising pamphlet, undated
Annual reports, 1954-1955
Articles, 1954-1964
"The Big Scheme of Simple Operation: A Primer on Linotype Mechanism and Operation," by Mergenthaler Linotype Company, 1940
Heads and Bodies: For Use in the Study and Planning of Linotype Newspaper Typography, 1946
Linotype books on matrices, accessories, and supplies, 1937, 1945, undated
"The Linotype Development of Typefaces," by C. H. Griffith, circa 1938
- Box 72m31-03, folder 9
Scope and Contents
"[...] printed for The Annual of Bookmaking in April, 1938. The typography was planned by W. A. Dwiggins and Paul A. Bennett. The decorative material, designed for Linotype by Mr. Dwiggins, is here shown for the first time."
Linotype machine pamphlets, 1954-1965, undated
Linotype News, volume 30, no. 3, 1952 Spring
Linotype News, volume 32, no. 1, circa 1953
"The Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in Baltimore" in the School Board Journal, pp. 43-52, 1954 October
Newsletters, 1957-1958
Newsletters, oversize, 1963, undated
Typeface pamphlets, 1931-1956, undated
Typeface pamphlets, oversize, [1955]-[1963], undated
Typographic records, 1950 March-1951 February
Typographic records, 1951 March-1952 January 31
Typographic records, 1952 February-1953 March
Typographic records, 1953 March-1954 July
Typographic records, 1954 August-1956 September
William Addison Dwiggins, 1925-1965, undated
Scope and Contents
Comprises small print publications designed by Dwiggins, articles by Dwiggins about typography and printing, biographical writings that describe Dwiggins's life and career, and Puterschein-Hingham prints from the printing press that Dwiggins founded and managed with Dorothy Abbe.
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) anniversary stamp, 1940
Articles and book announcements, 1931-1965, undated
Biography by Mabel Hoyle Dwiggins, 1957-1958
Book jackets, bookplates, and book design, 1929, undated
- Box 72m31-04, folder 3
Scope and Contents
Primarily books published by Alfred A. Knopf and Borzoi.
Calendar, The Marchbanks Press, 1925, 1955
Contemporary title pages, 1930-1932, 1953, undated
"Dwiggins and the Borzoi" by Alfred A. Knopf, in Publishers' Weekly, pp. 95-97, 1957 June 3
Eulogy booklet, 1957 March
- Box 72m31-04, folder 7
Scope and Contents
"Designed and printed by Harold Seeger and Alert Sperisen at their Black Vine Press in San Francisco for The Typophiles, March, 1957. This eulogy was written by Paul Bennett." Set in Dwiggins's typeface, Caledonia.
Exhibition invitations, 1940-1958, undated
The Feather-Vender Zodiac Calendar, 1951
Hokusai's preface to his Hundred Views of Fuji print, 1949
The legibility of printing types, original correspondence and booklets, 1935, 1939, 1947
The legibility of printing types, annotated typescripts and copies, 1939, 1956
Letterheads and Christmas card, 1957, undated
Mailing envelopes, labels, and stencil prints, 1937-1965, undated
Oversize mailing envelopes, 1937, 1951
Puterschein-Hingham, "Animalore: Ananimalanthology" and thank you card, 1951-1953
Puterschein-Hingham Petrouchka woodcut print, 1952
"Two New Type Faces, Two New Books" by W. A. Dwiggins in Publishers' Weekly, pp. 1335-1339, 1949 September 10
- Box 72m31-04, folder 16
Scope and Contents
On experimental no. 283 and "The Creaking Stair" and on Stuyvesant type and "The Shirley Letters."
Personal papers, 1908-1957, undated
Scope and Contents
Comprises business cards that document Griffith's professional development, membership cards and travel documents pertaining to Griffith's extracurricular pursuits, articles about typography and Griffith's design career, and assorted correspondence with designers and historical institutions. Also includes a partial bibliography of Griffith's personal library, a report by Griffith on the authenticity of the William F. Horn Papers, and a Hobby scrapbook of Popular Mechanic articles.
Articles about Griffith, 1948-1956
Articles about Griffith, oversize, 1931-1957, undated
Articles on printing and type, 1947-1954, undated
Bibliography of a portion of the Griffith library, [1953]
Book Club of California, 1954-1955
Borough of York seals, undated
Colonial Williamsburg correspondence, 1949, undated
Correspondence, 1933-1955
Correspondence with Higgins-McArthur Company, 1956
Correspondence with Rudolph Ruzicka, 1955
European travel documents, 1928-1947, undated
Hobby scrapbook, 1947-1950, undated
The Horn Papers, 1947
The Horn Papers correspondence and oversize clipping, 1947
Invitations, 1936-1954, undated
Letterhead, bookplates, business cards, and notes, 1908-1935, undated
Membership cards and official documents, 1917-1945
"A Prospectus Giving Particulars and Specimen Pages of the New Oxford Lectern Bible", 1935
- Box 6, folder 10
Scope and Contents
The Oxford Lectern Bible was designed by Bruce Rogers and presented to the Library of Congress. Griffith was one of the contributors to the project.
Design pamphlets and writings, 1903-1969, undated
Scope and Contents
Comprises pamphlets, writings, and prints by and about designers. Also includes exhibition gallery guides, essays on design and typography by Mergenthaler Manager of Typographic Promotion Paul Bennett, and "CHG to WAD," a proof for a pamphlet on the collaborative relationship between Dwiggins and Griffith by the Atlanta Graphic Arts Library.
"The Adams Papers," L. H. Butterfield, circa 1955
Banquet pamphlet to Philip Tell Dodge from the Mergenthaler Linotype Company and the International Paper Company, 1919
"CHG to WAD: The Type Director to a Type Designer", proof from the Atlanta Graphic Arts Library, 1955
- Box 72m31-04, folder 31
Scope and Contents
"Biographical Spotlighting on the Career of the Linotype Salesman who became Vice President and Director of Typographic Development, Engaging the Originative Talents of William A. Dwiggins and Rudolph Ruzicka and others, Causing Important Uplift in Linotype Typography, Including Some Notes on CHG's Guidance of WAD on Technical Procedures."
"An Exhibition of Contemporary American Book Illustration: As Represented by the Work of W. A. Dwiggins, Rockwell Kent, Rudolph Ruzicka, Edward A. Wilson at the Lakeside Press Galleries," R. R. Donnelley and Sons Company, Chicago, 1930
"An Exhibition of the Work of Rudolph Ruzicka," The American Institute of Graphic Arts at the Gallery of the Architectural League, 1935
Frederic Goudy birthday tributes, 1938
French calligraphic manuscript of prayers pamphlet, 1942
"The Linotype: To Intending Purchasers," The De Vinne Press, circa 1903
"The Omnibus of Typefaces: From the Eighth Graphic Arts Production Yearbook", 1948
Paul Bennett writings, 1953-1958, undated
Printing News [reprint], volume LXXXII no. 6, 1969 February 8
"Proteus Papers," Veronica Ruzicka announcement, undated
The Reader's Digest, volume 43, no. 258, 1943 October
Strathmore expressive printing papers, 1953-1954, undated
"What Are Today's Most Popular Type Faces?," [Robert Nicholson], undated
United Nations charter, 1945
Photographs, 1916-1951, undated
Scope and Contents
Primarily comprises black and white portraits of Chauncey Hawley Griffith and photographs of Griffith's house and lawn. Also includes a photograph of Griffith on the SS Bremen and photographs of Griffith in Mergenthaler offices with Pakistani governor Abdur Rahman Siddiqui and with fellow salesman Harry Porte.
Abdur Rahman Siddiqui and Chauncey Hawley Griffith in the office of the Vice President, Mergenthaler Linotype Company, New York, 1944 December 26
- Box 10, item 1
Scope and Contents
Siddiqui, Mayor of Calcutta, India and publisher of Calcutta Morning News. Photo by Tommy Weber.
Chauncey Hawley Griffith looking at typeface drawing, undated
Chauncey Hawley Griffith reading a book and smoking a pipe, 1916
Chauncey Hawley Griffith at a restaurant table [with a waiter?] on the SS Bremen, westbound, 1935
Chauncey Hawley Griffith and sales manager Harry Porte in Porte's office, Brooklyn, 1951 June
View of white Tudor house and landscape, undated
View of white Tudor house, undated
"Chipmunks in glass jar", undated
"Birds at bath", undated
"My loafing spot", undated
Pacyhsandra out of focus in foreground, undated
"Spray running", undated
"More spray", undated
"Birdbath in landscape", undated
Chipmunk on a jar, undated
Sprinkler in yard, undated
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Table of Contents
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
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No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
