Typefounders of East London: The Making of the Printed Word

Typographer and designer Richard Ardagh talks about the people, places and processes behind East London’s remarkable typefounding history. Join typographer and designer Richard Ardagh for an illustrated talk about the people, places and processes behind East London’s remarkable typefounding history. For centuries, printed text was assembled from individual pieces of metal type. East London played a major role in the development of the industry, originating influential typeface styles including sans-serif, slab-serif and Clarendon. Richard will introduce the area’s leading typefounders and foundries, including William Caslon, Vincent Figgins and William Thorowgood. The talk draws on Richard’s recently published book, Type Archived: A Visual Journey Through Typographic History, and his article ‘Typefounders of East London’ for Spitalfields Life. He will describe the tools, techniques and surviving artefacts that reveal the story of an industry which transformed the way we communicate.