Between the years 1838-1847, John Tallis published 88 booklets with streetscape views of London:

Before visiting a new neighbourhood, intrepid Londoners would use these as guides. Each booklet street facades, a mini-map of the area and a realistic illustration of a landmark (all drawn by Charles Bigot).

The booklets were very cheap because Tallis stuffed them with advertisements.

Each one contained about 5 pages of business ads. It’s likely that Tallis also charged merchants to have their business’ name engraved above their store on the street level.

Tallis’ booklets were like an early “Google StreetViews” and I posted a link to a scan of all 88 to a website for curious technologists. What happened next made me go down a rabbit hole 🐰🕳️

There was a lively discussion and user fritzo said the following:

Feature request, can someone integrate this into the DOOM engine so one can navigate 19th century london?

Yeah, I wasn’t going to do that.

I’ve never made a 3D environment.

Never even made a DOOM map when that game was popular (hi, it’s me, your grandpa).

But the idea stuck in my head.

And stayed.

And stayed.

And, I thought: “how hard could it be to make rectangular slabs and skin them with the images from the maps and put them in an online 3D engine and maybe pop a catsmeat man in the scene?”….

Well, Dear Reader, here is your chance to enter a proof-of-concept 3D version of Tallis’ Street Views:

Delightful on desktop. Monstrous on mobile.

Making the 3D streetview

My idea was to texture-map Tallis’ images over simple rectangles to create a “street”. I started looking for a 3D engine that was free, could run in the browser and would have a simple First Person mode to permit walking around.

I settled on the the CopperCube 3D engine. A simple and easy to learn game engine that could publish to the Web.

Next, I had to find the highest quality scan of one of Tallis’ views. Then cut it up into rectangular sections for each side of the street.

The best image scan was booklet No. 45 from a sale listing at Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. The image is set up as an OpenSeaDragon zoomable image and comes in at a huge 53 MB.

One hitch with zoomable images is that you can’t simply “save as” to your computer. That’s because they’re made up of hundreds of separate images that your computer stitches together on the fly.

Thankfully, a tool called Dezoomify let me combine the zoomable tiles and download them as a single PNG file.

After editing and cropping the streetview, I went ahead and created a proof-of-concept scene in CopperCube. It’s imperfect – like “the walls don’t align” imperfect – but it was fun to make. In addition to the street facades you’ll see the map of the area, a detailed illustration of a particular business, and several orbs that open webpages with information about those specific locations (make sure to “allow popups” when they come up). If you haven’t checked out the 3D experience yet, go ahead and click below:

If you were to expand this kind of 3D environment, you could add historical characters and their stories to the scene. You could also lay out streets according to their actual geometry on a map, using the real width of the pavement and real height of buildings.

Personal observations

Working on this project, one of my takeaways is just how sterile Tallis’ street illustrations look. They’re very focused on the commercial life of the buildings. I get it – these booklets were financed by advertisers, and they wanted to present a clean view of life. The real life on the streets of London would’ve been brutal, smelly and dirty. We’re talking the people wearing every single garment they own at once kind of dirty.

During the online discussion of Tallis’ Street Views, one talented technologist ran the etchings through an AI colourizer. Here’s an example of a colour output:

This is an interesting use of AI and really livens up the landscapes. However, if you wanted to make an accurate representation of London buildings, you’d have to show the colours of the actual material/cladding. Note how, some of the other colorized images in the album show excessive numbers of trees on the street and others show the kind of stucco-clad buildings that are typical of Florence, not London.

In my experience, off-the-shelf AI colourizers mangle the Tallis etchings and alter the image so it only loosely resembled the original. Here’s a before-and-after example of this heavy alteration:

I heard a lot about AI tools that take 2D images and turn them into 3D models. I tested out several of them.

A reliable and simple tool for turning 2D pictures into 3D is the “ZoeDepth” algorithm that you can try on Hugggingface: https://huggingface.co/spaces/shariqfarooq/ZoeDepth . It works best on pictures and photorealistic etches. It did not do well on the Street Views engravings.

There’s an cool related animation you can generate with Immersity AI, but it doesn’t let you export a useable 3D model:

Most of the AI tools were flops – there is a lot of misinformation about AI’s capabilities.

The most capable tool of the bunch was Meshy.ai (refer-a-friend link!). The tool is optimized for generating characters and objects, rather than “environments” – so it failed when I fed it a whole street facade with dozens of buildings:

When I fed it an image of a standalone building, it did much better:

Note how the AI added in an extra set of windows and columns on both sides of the entrance (3 in each row, rather than 2). This model is not quite true to the original.

I tried its neat “generate a texture from text prompt” feature. The result was underwhelming. Here is my prompt:

The walls of the bottom floor are made of limestone blocks. the walls of the floors above are finished in stuccco, while the columns are made of light marble. This building is from London in 1840. Photorealistic style, high quality.

And here is the output:

You can see that the model latched onto “blocks of limestone” and clad the whole building in them. Meshy ignored directions to add stucco & marble on the upper floors.

I decided to keep the facades as flat images in the 3D world, and o add the above “Town Hall” model as a toy object in the virtual environment. Unfortunately, it had an extreme level of detail (265,000 mesh faces) and came in at 27MB. Meshy’s paid tier lets you adjust the complexity of the model, and there are also standalone tools that let you simplify a 3D mesh. But I’ll leave that as an exercise to others. I just opted to embed an “orb” link to the finished model on Meshy’s site.

[Edit: I also used Poly.cam to generate a 3D model of the same facade – it generated an accurate model with no hallucinations]

[Edit from June 14, 2025] I tried generating a 3D object from the same facade with AdamCAD. Both the “Max Quality” and “Speed Demon” modes missed certain elements. I actually found the lower-quality model more accurate, and it looked like it had fewer vertices/embellishments (ex. it kept the back of the building as a plain wall) – which was better for my purposes. The .OBJ exports seemed to have something wrong with them – the simpler model was an 86MB file, while the more complex one was 4MB. However, the 4MB file looked very low-resolution in Copperlight.

Finally, attempted to create “street characters” with Meshy to place into the 3D environment but they weren’t quite right. Finessing the models would take skill and time that I don’t have. Here are some of the funniest/worst options from that attempt:

If you’re thirsty for more

I already linked to a huge image of all 88 Tallis booklets. But the David Rumsey site also has zoomable images of individual streetviews and ad pages.

If you want to see how a particular part of London looked in the past, Matthew Sangster created a map that shows where each of Tallis’ booklets is located. Once you find the number of the booklet, you cna find it on the David Rumsey site or on the Internet Archive.

There is a blog where someone does in-depth research into specific buildings that are featured in Tallis’ booklets. What went on in the building, as well as family history and dramas. I highly recommend it. But beware: this is a deeeeeep rabbit hole.

For another resource that covers specific Street Views houses, do a search at the Survey of London website.

If you like the intersection of technology and Victorian London, check out how this Victorian Room was rendered.

If you’re still reading, then you’re a prime candidate for the hard stuff – London Labour and the London Poor. Here is Volume 1 of 4 that you can get online for free (or, if you’re like me, just buy the whole series; abandon it unread; then give it away to a friend).

After writing about the Victorian Artistic Printing in the 16 volumes of the PISE… of course I had to go and buy myself a copy 🤠

The volume I got is number 13 from 1892. There is no full scan of it online and I intend to eventually make the whole thing available digitally. Until then, you can read the introduction from editor Robert Hilton and see the full list of contributors.

If you’d like a photo of a particular contribution, email me at jacob at this website and I’ll send you one!

Note: I extracted the text from the photos using the Optical Character Recognition tool at OCR.space.

Introduction

Since the last volume of the Exchange was issued, the revolution that has taken place in the style and execution of British printing in the last five years has been fully acknowledged by our severest critics – our confrères of the German Fatherland. At first they regarded it with suspicion as an innovation, and were especially strong in their objections to the manner in which we use their elaborate combination borders – in selected pieces and bands and panels instead of formal four-sided borders, as has been the custom of the German job printer from the time moveable type borders were introduced.

Herr A. M. Watzulik was the first, in an article in the pages of the Swiss Graphic Journal, to recognise the new style and point out its advantages. His descriptions and illustrations led to animated discussions amongst German printers, and one by one all the trade journals of the Fatherland took the matter up, many of the ablest German and Swiss printers taking part in the discussion. Extracts from some of these appreciative papers have been printed in recent issues of THE BRITISH PRINTER, and to make the record complete in the volumes of the Specimen Exchange also, as well as to emphasise the hints to be learned from its criticisms, we append a few extracts from a second paper which appeared recently in the German Graphic Observer, from the pen of the able editor. “The fame of English fancy job work is not of many years’ standing: the foundation of it was really laid in the office of THE BRITISH PRINTER, a journal whose influence over English fancy jobbing is without parallel.
“The extremely elegant appearance of English job work is in large measure due to the excellent paper and cards employed. The surfaced and plain material for cards, programmes, &c., is always of good quality and clear in colour. In addition to purest white, surfaces of soft rose, azure, ‘apple’ green, and ‘primrose’ yellow tints are especial favourites.
“The second point in which this English work contrasts so favourably with the German is the print, which is without exception faultlessly clear and clean. This, it is true, may be partly accounted for by the entirely new types, but such clearness of types, ornaments, and rules can only be attained by hard-packing make-ready and very careful preparation.
“The schemes of colour, too, differ widely from most of the German work. Black, the favourite colour with us, is seldom to be found in these English specimens. We have only come across pure black twice, and these only in conjunction with variegated colours. For the principal form brown in all shades is most in favour, then blue, greenish-blue, olive, and green-black. The effect of these colours on the paper (which for the most part is of a soft tint) is charming, and on a white ground they look much warmer than our cold black. Two of the variegated colours applied to tinted paper (e.g., olive and dark-red brown on chamois, red-brown and blue-green on grey-green, brown and green-black on greenish yellow, and so on) invariably give an effect which we can seldom attain with printed tints.

“Now we come to the materials used in composition. At the first glance the German jobbing compositor will, among the borders, vignettes, and types employed, recognise many old acquaintances; and on a closer inspection he will find among the ornaments but few figures strange to him.
“Many of the types, too, are of German origin, as for instance the frequently employed Mikado, the Asträa, Aurora, with appropriate initials and characters, &c. The overwhelming majority, however, consists of those types which, known as ‘American,’ have not even yet been fully introduced among us, but which in all these specimens look extremely well and materially contribute to their peculiar charm.
“The design and execution of the composition will appear new to most of our German jobbing compositors on account of the predilection for vignettes and the great simplicity of the composition technique. Of the vignettes, landscapes and sprays of leaves and blossoms, as well as groups of birds, are in especial favour, whereas other figures are almost wholly avoided. The great simplicity of the rules is worthy of remark, for 4-to-pica double-medium rules are almost exclusively employed. Thick and thin rules are seldom seen, and then only when directly required by the separate part of an ornamental figure. By the peculiar features of the design the composition is greatly simplified. Formal borders are very rare, preference being given to bands which either run beyond the edge of the paper or are cut off by perpendicular rules, whereby bevelling is avoided. The decoration of the border surface by a pleasing pattern or an appropriate vignette is of frequent occurrence, and heightens the charm of many of the specimens.
“We will now consider in how far the English fancy job style may serve as a model to the German printer, who, five years ago, scarcely thought he would be willing to learn from his English colleagues, and had almost renounced all hope of the English ever following the Germans in their conscientious treatment of fancy job work. Nor has this latter event come to pass even now, for the English style has rather gone its own way; but it has at the same time attained a development which deserves the consideration even of our German printers. As the ornamentation is for the most part of German origin, printers have gradually accustomed themselves to treat it according to German rules. Borders in several colours are less seldom to be seen in the English work; they already pay more attention to the object to be attained by an ornament, and apply it accordingly. But, whereas many Germans had amid their ornamental elaboration lost the taste for a judicious treatment of the type, this object has been more steadily kept in view by our English brethren. Though many an error may lurk in decorative detail, nevertheless, the English printing invariably shows a much more intelligent treatment of the type than the German. In fact, the English have in no way forgotten that the printed matter exists for the type, and not for the ornament.
“It was this intelligent treatment of the type which first called the attention of German jobbers to the work of their English brethren. The irregular, yet firmly deviating, ‘English display’ fulfilled the aspirations of many of our best efforts towards a freer treatment of design in fancy job work, and won on that account many friends. Now everybody is experimenting with it. It must have come to many a job compositor as a deliverance from oppressive bondage when he was taught that it was no longer a typographical sin if he, despite title rules, deviated his lines right and left as necessity demanded. Lines of equal width, with which previously no one knew what to do, and which were spread out in an unnatural way either by widening out or by addition of ornaments, are now simply moved sideways; and if this is done tastefully, and with due regard to the meaning of the text, a better effect is often obtained than by the symmetrical display.
“Thus far, then, the German printers have already learnt from the English. But there are other points from which we might, upon closer consideration, derive advantage. Among these is especially to be mentioned the vignette, on which great care and attention are expended by the German typefounders, but of which German printers do not make sufficient use, chiefly because, in the first place, our compositors in the adjustment of vignettes and their connection with other decorative material are far too timid and narrow-minded; and, secondly, because they do not understand how to print them. In both we can learn from the English.
“It never occurs to an English compositor to add joins artificially to a vignette; he would only make use of them when they were present in the vignette. The join, which is such a favourite with us, appears to the Englishman almost unpleasing, and on practical grounds we must allow that he is right, for every compositor and printer knows that its day is almost over. The English compositor rarely treats the vignette as a portion of a border, but almost always as a free and independent ornament. In any case he comes nearer to the conception of the artist who originated the vignette than we do, with our theoretical borders. Even when the vignette forms part of a border the compositor will separate it from the other ornaments by breaking the continuity of the border, regularly intersecting it, and placing the vignette in the open space caused thereby.
“With regard to the colour used to print the vignettes, we may learn from the English that they should not be printed black in fancy job work. this black printing which has so much to answer for in the ill-success of German printers hitherto in their employment of the vignette. Contrasted with the delicate type, a vignette, even when quite finely drawn or rendered lighter by diminution, is nevertheless too heavy. Intolerable are those vignettes in black ink which show full surfaces, as for instance, those with a light-coloured picture on a dark ground, or that favourite kind of vignette, the centre of which forms a full disc from which the representations stand out in strong contrast. How very different is the effect of the same vignettes on the English work! Thanks to the print being in a mixed or broken colour, the

effect is always a highly pleasing one. Brown, green- grey and green-black, blue-green and blue-black, in lighter or darker shades according to the more or less strong drawings of the vignettes, and according as the composition of the type is kept strong or delicate, always bring the vignette into a harmonious general effect with the rest of the work.
“There remains a few more particulars concerning the technique of the English ornamental composition. We have already called special attention to the fact that it is an extremely simple one, and that this simplicity partly rests on the employment of very practical rule material. In ornaments, quiet surface ornaments with grey effect are much in vogue, with which the powerful and vivid intarsia and silhouette forms, singly employed, are in strong contrast. “The question might now be discussed whether the English method of composition can be recommended for imitation, and whether it suits German conditions. We answer these two questions in the affirmative, but at the same time would lay stress on the fact that we do not imply thereby a rigid imitation. Thus especially there is a complete economy of material; everything is used up systematically; there is no need to cut up ornaments and rules if the compositor is in any measure a man of resource. A compositor who is a thorough master of his material, and who is to some extent endowed with ‘brains,’ can with the great variety of German material, and if there is no grudging of the rules placed at his disposal, also introduce a wealth of change in his work, even though the method of composition be simplified.”

In spite of their formal ideas as to the use of borders and ornament, our German confrères know a good thing when they see it. They have now studied what they call “the free Leicester style¹” appreciatively, and having realised its good points are already beginning to use it extensively in their fancy job work.

Its chief feature is the simplicity of the composition and the consequent ease and speed with which designs can be put together. With the accurate “point” standard of bodies for types, borders, and rules, fully fifty per cent is saved in the time of composition, and this is acknowledged by those printers who have arranged their plant as far as possible on the “point” system.
Now that the tastefulness of the new style and the economy of its working are fully recognised, it is being rapidly taken up not only all over the United Kingdom and in Germany, but in Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and even Italy. It has many admirers in France, and recently there have been enquiries from the United States for good men who can “design and execute job work in the free Leicester style”. Scarcely a week passes that we do not receive parcels of specimens from abroad in which the new style is conspicuously employed, the contrast being frequently enhanced by opposite pages being shewn in the old formal style.
This general adoption of our ideas in typographical design and execution is very gratifying to us, who have worked so long to produce an improved state of things in the craft of Gutenberg and Caxton. But a glance through the current volume of the Exchange – undeniably good as it is all through – shows us that there is yet plenty to do in the direction of improvement. “Not all of them show the same high standard of excellence”; and though the number of poor examples becomes less and less with successive collections, there are still some who cling to old-fashioned styles of display, do not recognise the utility of labour-saving material and other improvements, and therefore do not make the progress that is expected of them.
It is also gratifying to note, in looking through the current series, that a great majority of the contributors are not slavish imitators, but frequently produce decidedly fresh and original ideas of their own, a fact which tends to show that the new style is rightly named “free”. It admits of more variety in tasteful display, both of types and borders, than any other style now in vogue, and gives a new appearance to old faces when judiciously utilised. This is shewn in many specimens in the present series.
When we come to the question of finish of details, colour schemes, and general execution of both composition and presswork, it is at once seen that the improvement is noticeable “all along the line”. Not half a dozen all-round faulty specimens can be found in the whole collection, though there are a few that are somewhat faulty in finish in one or the other department. Looked at as a whole, a more tasteful or a more well-finished collection has never yet been issued, and we are well content to leave the judgment on this point to the craft at large.
It is now fully recognised by all who have adopted the “free” style, that its advantages in economy of working enable them, whilst giving their clients better and more tasteful printing, to make it pay. One and all say that they can get better prices, and at the same time get more pleasure and satisfaction out of their work, and are kept busier, than when they did common work only.
The new style of printing has also been provocative of an eager demand for more thorough technical instruction for and on the part of the workmen, who are at last generally recognising that the improvements in labour-saving material and appliances require more study of theory and practice combined, to enable them to secure and hold good positions. This demand for instruction has led to the starting of a number of new classes this session, and an addition of over two hundred to the ranks of the students, as well as to modifications of the syllabus, by which the important jobbing branch of the craft secures a fair share of the attention of the examiners.
In this increased demand for technical instruction, the influence of the Specimen Exchange and THE BRITISH PRINTER has had one effect. The examiners now include a fair proportion of questions relating to the job department² in their examination papers, and this fact alone has had the effect of bringing more than double the number of students into the classes.
In another direction our continued strong representations in the right quarters, as to the absolute necessity of the classes being provided with the requisite material for practical instruction, have borne fruit. We are just informed, on the authority of the

trustees, that a complete letterpress plant is to be provided for the new Printers’ Institute now in course of erection in the “printers’ parish” of St. Bride, Fleet-street; and the Glasgow Branch of the British Typographia has suspended its classes, and set about providing funds for the purchase of the necessary plant. At Manchester, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and the Polytechnic class, London, more or less complete material is already provided; one or two small classes receive instruction in printing offices kindly lent for the purpose; and at the Leicester class, tools and materials, up to a new Wharfedale machine and a complete stereo plant, are introduced into the class room for special lectures. All this is very encouraging for the future prospects of the craft.
To return to the Exchange: more than the full number of 375 specimens asked for have been sent. Rejections have reduced the number to 361. Of these 54 are from abroad: 33 from Germany; 12 from Austro-Hungary; 5 from Switzerland; one each from Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and Turkey; and five from the United States. It will be seen that the foreign element continues to be well represented, both in quantity and quality. The serious labour troubles in Germany were the means of preventing nearly a score more of contributions to this volume.
At home, it will be seen that the contributors are more generally distributed than formerly. Scotland, formerly represented by an average of a dozen, now sends more than that number from one office alone; Wales, once represented by one or two a year, now sends nearly a score; and Ireland has gone up in equal proportions – all three countries equally in quality as in numbers. The representative collections from the leading Scotch and Irish offices could, indeed, not easily be surpassed anywhere. Coming to the large remainder of purely English contributions, the succession of really well-designed, tasteful, and admirably executed specimens is really remarkable, and many of those from small offices are equally as good in every way as those from the more important and, presumably, better furnished establishments. As a rule better inks and papers are used, and a more judicious and pleasing selection of inks and papers made than in previous volumes, though there are still a few, and these not only amongst British printers, who do not see that good paper is absolutely needed for good work. In the matter of ornament there is a more general observance of the unities, and several conflicting styles of ornament are now seldom or ever mixed in one design. As a result the incongruities of former collections are in this series few and far between. There are but few ill-balanced designs, though several are spoiled by being set too full out to the paper. Some of the “collective” exhibits from well-known British offices could not be surpassed anywhere in any country of the world.
With the next volume-the fourteenth-the Exchange will have run through two apprenticeships, as it were. A comparison of the first and thirteenth volumes show what an astonishing reformation has been effected in that time in British typography. The revolution in style, as well as in workmanship, has been complete. The change in the latter respect has been caused to a great extent by the rapid introduction and more careful study of labour-saving material and appliances, and the gradual extension of the “point” system; and it is a matter for regret that we have had to look almost entirely to the “enterprising foreigner” for most of the improvements in this direction.
The next volume being, as we have said, the end of the “second apprenticeship in progress, we make an earnest appeal to contributors everywhere to signalise it by helping us to crown the edifice of fourteen years’ steady work, by the production of a collection that shall in the design and execution of every individual specimen be a monument to the taste and ability of contributors, and such as will show that British printers are determined to hold their own, and keep British printing in its old position of the best in the world.
In order to secure this desirable end, the number of contributions required for the next volume will remain at 375, and every care will be taken to exclude specimens that do not come fully up to the standard required. We would, therefore, advise all intending contributors who are at all doubtful of coming up to the standard to send advance proofs to the Editor, who will, as usual, cheerfully advise as to any improvements or alterations that may be needed to ensure success.

THE issue of the current volume has been considerably delayed by the time lost by many contributors during the general election and press of business since, the last parcels not reaching us till December 6th.

List of Contributors to Vol. XIII

AcKRILL, ROBERT, Harrogate.
   Oldfield, Arthur, foreman.
        Do.     contributed for the
     Harrogate Technical Class.
   Fisher, E., compositor.
   Parkin, C. B., apprentice.
   Thackwray, R.
ACTIENGESSELSCHAFT für Schriftgiesserei
    und Maschinenbau, Offenbach-am-Main.
   Winkler, Reinhold.
ARCHIBALD. James, Hull.
   Pickles, J., foreman.
AUSTEN, W. G., Canterbury.
   Houlden, S.
BABINGTON, T. K., Ripon.
   Taylor, J. H.
BAILDoN & Sons, Halifax.
   Baildon, G.
   Dixon, H., foreman.
BAKER, A. W., Birmingham.
   Overton, W. H.
BARBER & FARNWORTH, Manchester.
   Daltry, E., foreman.
Barlow, W. S., Bury.
   Pettitt, E.
BELLErBY & SON, Selby.
BEMROSE & SONS, LIMITED, Derby.
   Garratt, G. H.
   Williams, A. W.
BERNSTEEN, S., Copenhagen.
BEYAERT, LEON, Courtrai.
BOOT, EDWIN S., LIMITED, London, E.C.
Bonz' ERBEN, A., Stuttgart.
BRANCH, J. E., South Hackney, N.
   Liddiard, F. E.
BRITTEN, W., West Bromwich.
   Woodhall, E.
Brooker, J., Uckfield.
BRÜDER MAGYAR, Temesvar, Hungary.
BRUNNS, OSCAR, Breslau.
BRYAN & Co., Oxford.
   Bryan, George.
   Fletcher, W. C., foreman.
BUCKLER BROTHERS, Birmingham.
   Priestland, W.
BURKART, W., Brunn.
BURT & SONS, London, W.
BURTON, T. I., Louth.
BUSHILL, T. & SONS, Coventry.
CALDCLEUGH, THOMAS, Durham.
   Glenton, A.
   Nicholson, R. A.
   Phillips, F.
CASLON LETTER FOUNDRY, London, E.C.
   Luxton, H. H.
CAXTON WORKS, Newbury.
   Purdue, T., machinist.
CHENEY & SONS, Banbury.
Davies, G. M., machinist.
CHILVER, ARTHUR, London, E.C.
   Cuthbert, E.
CHORLTON & KNOWLES, Manchester.
CHRISTOPHERS & SON, Newport, Mon.
   Morley, E., foreman.
   Morgan, E., machinist.
CLARKE, A., Loughborough.
   Wells, J. W.
COATEs & YATES, Rochdale.
   Ashmore, R. A.
   Webster, A.

COLLINS & DARWELL, Leigh.
COOPER & Co., LIMITED, Birmingham.
   White, A. H.
COOPER & BUDD, Peckham, S.E.
   Joyner, Geo., foreman.
CRAIGHEAD, A., Galashiels.
CUTHBERTSON & BLAcK, Manchester.
   Black, John
   Cuthbertson, W. S principals.
   Shadwell, J. A. H., foreman.
   Clarke. S.
DANIEL & Co., St. Leonards.
DE MONTFORT PRESS (Raithby, Lawrence and Co., Ltd., Leicester).
   Hilton, Robert
   Lawrence, J. C.
   Raithby, H. C.
   Grayson, R., foreman.
   Brown, Joseph, assistant-foreman.
   Harwood, J. H., foreman, platen dept.
   Jackson, T. W., foreman machinist.
   Brad, A., machinist.
   Breese, R., compositor.
   Bruce. J., compositor.
   Budden, C. G., compositor.
   Clarke, John S., compositor.
   Clarke. W., machinist.
   Coleman, H., compositor.
   Davis, W. W., machinist.
   Fisher, Chas. H., machinist.
   Flint, J. W., machinist.
   Graham, Jas., compositor.
   Hilton, Frank.
   Hutt, E. E., compositor.
   Luck, F.. machinist.
   Martin, W. S.
   Parker, G. A., compositor.
   Readings, H., compositor.
   Richards. A. (foreman, litho dept.)
   Stevens, E.T. D. (manager, litho dept.)
   Thomas, F.. compositor.
   Turville, W.
   Wade, W. H., compositor.
   Walkington, R. T., machinist.
   Wilson, Major, machinist.
   Whetton, H.
DENNIS, E. T. W., Scarborough.
   Jowsey, Arthur, machinist.
DOERING, C., Karlsruhe.
DOTESIo, W. C., Bradford-on-Avon.
   Glover, B.
   Harris, W.
East Anglian Daily Times, Ipswich.
   Daws, Thos. (manager, typo dept.)
EDDINGTON, E., Thornbury.
   Eddington, C.
   Hale, E., machinist.
EDDInGTON & CADBURy, Swindon.
   Eddington, W. C.
   Cousin. J.
   Dance, R.
   Docwra, G. W., machinist.
   Fulton, J. A.
   Garrett, R. W.
   Knight, C. E.
   Proctor. W. T.
EDWARDS, H., Cheltenham.
   Taylor, G. W., foreman.
ELLIOTT, P. E., Finsbury, E.C.
ENGEL, E. M., Vienna.
FITCH, OSWALD, London, E.C.

FARQUHARSON, ROBERTS & PHILLIPS, LIMITED, London, E.C.
   Webber, R. W.
FöRSTER & BoRRIES, Zwickau.
   Goebel, Paul, foreman.
FOSTER & BIRD, King's Lynn.
   Davison. J. H., compositor.
   Morgan, J. P.
FROMME, CARL, Vienna.
   Haas, Anton, foreman.
   Jochs, Edmund, compositor.
   Olmühl, Fr., machine-foreman.
FUCHS, SIGMUND, Budapest.
FUHRMANN, OTTO, Stendal.
FUSSLI, ORELL, Zurich.
GAILLARD. EDM., Berlin.
GARDNER BROTHERS, Leith.
GAZE & SONS, Strand, London.
   Lee, F. C., compositor.
GEIBEL, S. & Co., Altenburg.
GEVEKE, GEB., Hildesheim.
   Krulls, Th., machinist.
GILMOUR & CARMICHAEL, Glasgow.
   Greig. Colin.
GILLESPIE, H. G., Glasgow.
GOODNER, T. E., Midhurst.
   Witham. C. R.. foreman.
GOTELEE, A., Odiham.
   Clinker, S. H., overseer.
GRAPHO PRESS, London, E.C.
   Andrews, A.
   Collins, A.
   Fisher, W.
   Jarvis, W.
   Robinson. F.
GRIFFITH, E. & SON, Birkenhead.
GRIGG, G. W., Dover.
   Grigg, C. H.
HARPUR, T., Derby.
   Rouse, G., apprentice.
HARRIs & SoNS, Manchester.
   Harris, A. H.
HARRISON, WM., Ripon.
   Harrison, W.
   Fairley, F. J., machinist.
   Groves, J. W.
HARTLEY & SON, Attercliffe.
   Belton, G. J.
   Dobinson, T. E., apprentice.
HELLER & STRANSKY. Prague.
HEPWORTH, LEWIS, & Co., Tunbridge Wells.
   Cox, James, foreman.
HERALD & WALKER, Manchester.
HILL, S. & Co., Liverpool.
HILLMAN, T. & Co., Birmingham.
   Lucas, A. E.
HODGE & Co., Glasgow.
   M'Kirdy, Chas., apprentice.
   Smith, C., apprentice
   Brown, T., apprentice
HODGSON, J. L., St. Helens.
HOFFMANN, HERMANN, Steglitz.
HOHMANN, H., Darmstadt.
HORNYANSZKY, VIKTOR. Budapest.
HOSSACk, A., Edinburgh.
   Hossack. J. W.
HOWARTH, JOHN, Rochdale.
   Howarth, J. D.
HUGHES & HARBER, Longton.
   Dryland, Chas., foreman.

HUNT, BARNARD & Co., London, W.
HURST, ARTHUR, York.
IMP. EB-UZ-ZIA, Constantinople.
JACKSON, C. M., Woolwich.
   Jackson, C. M.
JAMES, A. C., Redland, Bristol.
JASPER, FR., Vienna.
JOHNS. R. H., Newport, Mon.
   Johns, R. S.
   Bate, F. A. M., apprentice.
   Chave, Wm.
   Gould. H.
JOHNS, W. N., Newport, Mon.
   Fussell, H. J. G., overseer.
   Clissitt, C. T., apprentice.
   Gronow, A. C.
   Watkins, A.
JOHNSON. C. H., Leeds.
   Crosland, Wm.
JONES, ROBERT, Wrexham.
   Wilkinson, J.
KARAFIAT, LEOPOLD, Brunn.
KAY & SONS, Haworth.
K. K. HOF-UND-STAATSDRUCKEREI, Vienna.
KNöFLER, H. & R., Vienna.
KREBS, BENJAMIN, Frankfort-am-Main.
LAUBNER, KARL, Essegg, Slavonia.
LEA & Co., LIMITED, Northampton.
   Beeby, W. J.
   Marsden, T. J.
   Underwood, W.
LEWIS, G. & SON, Selkirk.
   Lewis, John, principal.
   Calderwood, Dan, Joreman.
   Grieve, W. B., late foreman.
   Anderson, John, compositor.
   Henderson, Peter, machinist.
   Kyles, John, compositor.
   McLauchlan, Hugh, compositor.
   Niven, Archibald, compositor.
   Ramage, Geo.
   Scott, Wm., machinist.
   Thom, John, compositor.
   Thomson, J. W., apprentice.
LIBERTY PRESS, Wexford.
   Wood, Fred, principal.
   Evans, Chas. E., manager.
   Doyle, P.. apprentice.
   Keefe, Wm., apprentice.
   Knights, E. J., compositor.
   McGuire, Hugh.
   Shudel, Geo., machinist.
   Waterhouse, F., machinist.
   West, W. H., compositor.
LION, L., Fuerth.
LITTLE BOYS' HOME, Farningham.
   Beavis, T. S.
   Briggs, W. J., apprentice.
   Francis, G. S.
   Owen, R., apprentice.
LODGE & SON, Bristol.
   Hobbs, A., foreman.
LONG, W. J. C., Worthing.
   Long, D. E.
MARLBOROUGH, PEWTRESS & Co., London, E.C.
   Gregory, W. G., foreman.
MARTEN, B. R., Sudbury.
MASSEY & Co., Trowbridge.
MAWSON, PHILLIPS & Co., LIMITED, Sunderland.
   Munroe, S. C., foreman.
Messenger office, Bromsgrove.
   Bate, J., manager.
   Heyden, C., compositor.
MICHAEL, W., Barnstaple.
   Camp, Frank, foreman.
   Michael, P. D., apprentice.

MIDWOOD, Odo, Manchester.
   Huffey, W., manager.
MORISON BROTHERS, Glasgow.
   Dunlop, J. A., compositor.
MORTIMER, E., Halifax.
Moss & THOMAS, Hebden Bridge.
   Moss, J.
   Thomas, A. E.
MOUTON & Co., The Hague, Holland.
NAUMANN, C. G., Leipzig.
NEWMAN & SON, London, E.C.
   Hancock, H. J., foreman.
   Bateman, S. M., machinist.
   Cornelius, F. G.
NEW PRESS PRINTING Co., Hanley.
NORMAN, SAWYER & Co., Cheltenham.
OELHAFEN, Fr., Mainz.
PARNELL & Co., Grimsby.
   Parnell, G. B.
   Carr, E.
   Forman, Wm.
   Benson, J. N., compositor.
   Brown, R., apprentice.
PEARSON BROS., Halifax.
   Fielden, J. H.
PERCY Bros., Manchester.
   Chorlton, C. A.
   Fletcher. T.
   Nickson, F.
PHOENIX PRINTING Co., Birmingham.
   Williams, P. C., manager.
   Whiting, C.
PHELP BROS., Walthamstow.
   Hanson, F., compositor.
   Pitt, F. W., machinist.
PLATT, J. & H., Preston.
   PODMORE, W. H., Warrington.
POYSER, W., Wisbech.
   Poyser, W. F.
PRIES, AUGUST, Leipzig.
RABITZ, H., Solingen.
RAMM & SEEMANN, Leipzig.
RATCLIFFE, C. & H., Liverpool.
   Duncan, Alex.
   Sharples, John E.
REID, SONS & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
   Gill, J.
   Tinker, J.
REVELL & SON, Manchester.
   Jones, F.
ROBINSON, R., Margate.
   Tanner, F., compositor.
ROBINSON, W., Bolton. (possibly William Robinson with the Bolton Advertiser)
   Robinson, W., principal.
   Robinson, Chas.
   Robinson. G. A.
   Mather, J.
   Orrell, E., apprentice.
ROHRER, RUDOF M., Brunn.
RYDER, R., Wednesbury.
   Wallbank, J., foreman.
SAVORY, E. W., Cirencester.
   Wray, C. G., foreman.
SCHELTER & GEISECKE, Leipzig.
SCHIRMER & MAHLAU, Frankfurt-am-Main.
SCHLEICHER & SCHÜLL, Düren.
SCHWEIZ. VERLAGS-DRUCKEREI, Basel.
   Boehm, G., foreman.
   Zickwolff, J. F., machinist.
SEVERN & SON, Heanor.
   Severn, Joseph.
SEWARDS, J., Sleaford.
SILSBURY, J. H., Shanklin.
   Silsbury, M.
SMITH, G. B., Chipping Norton.
SMITH, LEWIS & SON, Aberdeen.
   Barry, H. A., compositor.
   Fraser, R. C., apprentice compositor.
   Smith, W. & J.

SMITH'S PRINTING AND PUBLISHING AGENCY, London, E.C.
   Hall, A. W.
   Townson, E. W.
   Shreeve, A., machinist.
SOUTHALL BROS. & BARCLAY, Birmingham
      (Private Press of).
   Smith, James, compositor.
   Smith, J. H., machinist.
SOUTHALL, J. E., Newport, Mon.
   Iles, W., foreman.
SPAMERSCHE BUCHDRUCKEREI, Leipzig.
Sport and Play office, Birmingham.
   Machin, A. E., compositor.
SPONG & SON, Biggleswade.
   Green, Chas. E., apprentice.
STEPHENS & EYRE, Bristol.
STOOLE & WHITE, Hull.
   Needham, J., foreman.
STRECKER & MOSER, Stuttgart.
SWINBURNE PRINTING Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
   Swinburne, J. W., manager.
SYRETT, C. J., Manchester.
TAFT, H. D., Riverhead, N.Y., U.S.A.
TATUM & BOWEN, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
   Holton, M. B.
   Loy, W. E.
THOMAS & Co., Huddersfield.
   Edwards, B., apprentice.
   Foster, A.
THORNTON & PATTINSON, Hull.
   Evison, C., compositor.
   Ralphs, H.
TOPHAM & LUPTON, Harrogate.
   Topham, J.
   Lupton, S. B.
TURNER, JAMES, Manchester.
VICTORIA WORKS, Forest-hill, S.E.
   Anderson, Ed., compositor.
Visiter office, Southport.
   Richardson, R., overseer.
   Langley, Ed., compositor.
WAGNERS ERBEN, Zurich.
WALDIE, J. M., Stonehaven.
   Bissett, J. C., manager.
WALKER & Co., Warrington.
   Beardall. J. E., compositor.
WALLAU, CARL, Mainz.
WEBBERLEY & MADDOX, Longton.
   Webberley, J. A.
WENDLING, DR. HAAS & Co., Mannheim.
   Boehm, Hans, compositor.
WHEELER, G. & Co., Manchester.
   Wright, H. N.
WHITEHEAD & SONS, Huddersfield.
   Jenkinson, G. T.
WHITTINGHAM & Co., LTD., London, E.C.
   Baker, W. J.
   Freeston, H.
WILLIAMS, F., Hawkhurst.
   Willard, J. G., foreman.
   Delia, B. W.
WILLIAMS, W. T., Portsmouth.
   Kellaway, J. S.
WILLS, H., Loughborough.
   Pallett, W.
   Oldham, J.
WINKLEy, MARK, 4 Southwark-street, S.E.
WISCHAU & WETTENGEL, Halle a. S.
WOHLFELD, A., Magdeburg.
WOOD & Co., St. Helen's.
   Brown, J.
   Lockie, R. H.
WORTHY, F., Battersea, S. W.
   Deacon, A., apprentice.
   Goodman, H. A.

1. See the note below the footnotes re: the Leicester Free Style ↩︎
2. By “the job department”, editor Robert Hilton means “Job Printing” – disposable printing of ephemera, advertising, packaging etc. This is the opposite of “Book Printing” – the more respected & older branch of printing. ↩︎

Leicester Free Style
This was the Raithby Lawrence “house style”. More about this style in this detailed comment on Fonts In Use. Examples of this style:

Side note: Eb-uz-zia Tevfik

(Also known as Ebüzziya Tevfik)

Friend of the blog Fatih has emailed me with more samples of artistic printing from this Ottoman printing press:

and

More photos and artefacts about this printing press, in Turkish.

The 1880s were a time of transformation in print – the birth of Graphic Design as we know it.

An all-male cast of typesetters, compositors and apprentices showed off their finest work in the pages of an international “exchange” where their prints would be seen and judged.

One remarkable woman’s work stood out in this environment.

Her name was Wally Prohaska and, alone among male Artistic Printers, she was credited as a designer and compositor in her own right.

Come along on a dive into the history of women printers in the 1800s. We’ll start with Wally’s story and go back in time to learn more about the women who made her work possible.

Setting the scene

The idea for this post was born in October 2024, when I was corresponding with Jamie Horrocks about her paper “The grammar of typography: The Printers’ International Specimen Exchange and Victorian letterpress design reform“.

In it, Jamie wrote that Victorian Artistic Printers were exclusively male. When I read that, I spat out my Mountain Dew so hard that my fedora fell off. Dear reader, I wiped the orange Cheeto crust from my 3-day-old stubble and bellowed a powerful Well Akshuallllllllyyyyyyy!

Now, we’re talking about the 1880s. A time when women were a common sight at the printing house… performing low-paid menial tasks. They would be the ones manually feeding paper into a printing press or working in the book-binding room putting together finished pages.

Composing moveable-type and operating the presses was men’s work, and the Printers’ Trade Union had a long history of blocking women from membership. This is what made Wally’s print works stand out: she was proudly credited as the compositor. Doing men’s work.

Wally Prohaska – Artistic Printer

We know about Wally from her submissions to the Printers’ International Specimen Exchange over the period of 1886 to 1889. Here is an example of her work:

This is strong work. It looks like there are 5 colours, with one being gold. She had to set up 5 printing “formes” that lined up perfectly. One for each colour. The ornate borders are made up of small lead elements, lined up side to side – everything is neat and there are no gaps between these elements. The visually “busy” look is typical of German and Italian printing of the time.

Wally was a compositor at the firm of her relative, Anton Halauska in the small town of Hallein, Austria. A profile of the firm in The British Printer credits her as a co-founder, having started the firm with Halauska in 1882.

If we assume that Wally was a close relative of Anton Halauska, we can look for records of her near Anton’s birthplace of Olmütz. There here is a census document in the Czech Archives that, if it is indeed our Wally’s, shows her birth date as Feb. 15, 1855.

By the same logic, it is possible that Wally came from a family that was involved in the printing trade. There are several maps produced in that region by the lithography firm of “Prohaska a Muller”/Karl Prochaska, at around 1836.

After moving to Hallein and establishing herself as a capable Artistic Printer, in 1888 Wally received a Bronze Medal and a Diploma of Honour as part of the German National Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Munich. This was “for highly commendable efforts to promote job printing.” (as reported in “Buchdrucker-Zeitung” and listed in the official record)

Here are 3 more of Wally’s contributions to the Printers’ International Specimen Exchange (PISE):

As of 1893 Wally was still active, drawing up a map of Vienna that was printed by the Military Geographical Institute (source).

Very little is known about Wally, because the relevant original materials are in German and academics haven’t noticed how remarkable she was. I encourage you to research her on your own and add to the body of knowledge around her!

Side note: There is a word in German for “female typesetter” – Accidenzsetzerin. During my research, I only found 2 uses of that word. One was used to describe Wally.

The other use was in an 1893 passage describing this ad in a Berlin newspaper: “(female) Job typesetter seeks printing house owner for marriage. Offers under W. 33, Berlin, O., Post Office 34.”. I found it funny to consider that this could be a personals ad from Wally herself. But this is unlikely – Wally is always shown as Mrs. Prohaska in her contributions to PISE.

Women in printing: before Wally

Let’s go back in time to learn about women’s involvement in printing before Wally. All the way back to the first half of the 1800s.

50 years before Wally’s time, the most prominent women in printing were owners of print houses. They would not have gotten their hands into typesetting & presswork, but we know several of them were shrewd business operators.

Elizabeth Heard

Elizabeth’s entry into the print business was typical of the few women who owned a printing house: her husband died. John Heard owned the business and she took it on after his death in 1823. Elizabeth, who was 35 at the time, ran the business for at least the following 30 years.

30 years in business is a monumental accomplishment. If you read the history of Raithby Lawrence, one of the most successful printworks of the period (“Raithby Lawrence 1776-1876, 1876-1976” by De Montfort Press), you’ll see them constantly teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Most people running printing business were into the craft of printing and knew next-to-nothing about finance, marketing or customer service. Perhaps that’s the secret to Elizabeth’s success: she must’ve focused on the business, while her son focused on the craft of printing.

Elizabeth lived and worked at 32 Boscowen Street, Truro in Cornwall. As was common for the time, the 4-storey building hosted her business was on the ground floor, with the 2nd floor acting as warehouse and the remaining 2 floors serving as residences. She held literary and musical ‘salons’ in her home and, throughout her widowhood, led Truro society as Cornwall’s ‘most able and amiable business woman’

Elizabeth’s obituary in the New York Evening Express from 1867 reads:

Mrs. Elizabeth Heard, bookseller, printer, and publisher of the “West Briton” newspaper in England, died last month at her residence in Truro. A correspondent of the London “Bookseller” says of her : “I know of no women connected with the book and newspaper trade who was better known and more respected than Mrs. Heard. She had carried on business in Boscowen street, Truro, for close upon sixty years, and I will venture to state that no commercial gentleman who ever called upon her but would be struck with her great judgment, her courtesy, and the desire which she ever evinced to do unto others as she would be done unto.” Mrs. Heard was the widow of Mr. John Heard, the founder of the business, and lost her husband about forty-five years ago. She was left with a youthful family entirely dependent upon her exertions. She was born in London in the year 1787, her father, Mr. Goodridge, being a successful tradesman. Her mother was from Edinburgh.

New York Evening Express, 1867 (accessed through FultonHistory.com)

Ann Eccles

Like Elizabeth, Ann Eccles succeeded her husband George in their Fenchurch Street printing business when he died in 1838. Here is a poster printed by her firm, and a “dinner programme” submitted by her firm to the Printers’ International Specimen Exchange 37 years later.

Notice the difference in style between the two pieces. It is the progression from old-style printing (limited fonts, centre-aligned) to Artistic Printing (asymmetrical, an abundance of fonts and printers’ decorations).

We have a few more contributions from workers at Ann Eccles’ firm to the PISE. From Vol. 4 (1883):

And an example of a musical-theatre programme from 1887:

The firm of Ann Eccles & Son may have survived as far as the year 1974, which is remarkable.

Mary Franklin

Mary Franklin of Hungerford was another woman who followed the same trajectory as Elizabeth and Ann. She took over the business from her husband in 1864 and ran it with her son until 1871. Mary’s business was not just a print house, but also a stationer, bookseller and “circulating library” among other things. This is common in the period: very few people ran a business that was purely a printing house.

Mary appears to have died in 1882.

Was there an waypoint between the 1840s – when women like Elizabeth Heard could run a print shop, but wouldn’t typeset – and the 1880s when you see Wally Prohaska do modern print work as compositor and designer?

Yes. In the 1860s, one woman did the pioneering work of cracking open the printing guild to women so they could work as typesetters.

Emily Faithfull and Victoria Press

In the 1860s, Emily Faithfull wanted to create ways for women to become financially independent. In Emily’s mind, the fact that marriage was a woman’s only path to financial security was responsible for women languishing in loveless marriages – or suffering at the hands of abusive husbands. If women could earn their own keep, how much better would their their life be?!

Emily’s approach wasn’t to beg politicians for change, to protest or to set fires. She had a very practical attitude. First, she researched which trades were both well-paying and suitable for women. She narrowed in on print compositing. Then, she founded a business – Victoria Press – a printing press operated wholly by women. It was a training ground for women who’d become compositors.

Emily was not a wealthy woman, but she was clever and effective at building support for her cause. She worked over the powerful Queen Victoria through flattery. She named her printworks “Victoria Press” and produced a showcase book named after & dedicated to Queen Victoria.

That showcase book was the “Victoria Regia“. Browse it to see the quality of female typesetters’ work. The initial letters and illustrations were engraved by female engravers.

Eventually, Emily Faithfull became “Printer & Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty”. My understanding is that this was an endorsement of Emily, just as it had been for Richard Bentley previously. (I don’t think this meant that “Queen Victoria had all her printing done at Emily’s press”. This is also separate from the role of “King’s Printer” that George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode apparently held during Victoria’s reign.)

Emily needed to entice ordinary women into the compositing profession. To that end, she published “Women Compositors: A Guide To The Composing Room” – a great laywoman’s introduction to the the job and the distinct tasks involved.

Finally, Ms. Faithfull carriedon a constant battle with the men of the printing guild. More on that in her own words:

But when I first attempted to introduce women as compositors, it was still no easy matter to overcome the opposition of the trades-union. As Mr. Gladstone said in his speech on monopolies, “The printer’s monopoly is a powerful combination, which has for its first principle that no woman shall be employed — for reasons obvious enough — viz., that women are admirably suited for that trade, having a niceness of touch which would enable them to handle type better than men.”

The Victoria Press was opened in 1860 in the face of a determined opposition…

The opposition was not only directed against the capitalist, but the girl apprentices were subjected to all kinds of annoyance. Tricks of a most unmanly nature were resorted to, their frames and stools were covered with ink to destroy their dresses unawares, the letters were mixed up in their boxes, and the cases were emptied of “sorts.” The men who were induced to come into the office to work the presses and teach the girls, had to assume false names to avoid detection, as the printers’ union forbade their aiding the obnoxious scheme.
…
Nevertheless… it accomplished the work for which it was specially designed, for compositors were drafted from it into other printing offices, and the business has been practically opened to women.

Three visits to America

You can read more about Emily’s thinking and efforts in founding the press in Emily’s own English Woman’s Journal. Emily was a complex person. In her “Women Compositors” booklet, she exclaims that the profession “is not in any way injurious to health”, but in the English Woman’s Journal article she admits that lead and mercury vapour are a workplace hazard to print-shop employees.

According to Emily’s own Victoria Magazine, her efforts were successful. At around the year of 1876, a census showed 231 women employed as printers in London and about 500 others outside the city, and an additional 113 in Scotland’s main cities.

Note: in the above passage, Emily says that women printers are not prone to Wayzgooses – a printer’s term for “walkabouts” or “fun outings”. Women also don’t celebrate St. Mondays – a slang term for an impromptu holiday that printers took after drinking heavily on a Sunday!

For much more information about Emily Faithfull, including her interesting personal life, visit this mini-site.

So far, we’ve seen the top-notch typesetting work of Wally Prohaska in 1880s Austria. We went back to the 1840s, when women were entered the print industry – but only as business owners. And finally, we learned how Emily Faithfull set dozens of British women on a career in compositing in the 1860s.

Let’s go forward in time again, to 1892, and hear from two more women in print.

Jane Elizabeth Bowden / Mrs. Pyne / Mrs. Pine

In 1891 William Morris was setting up Kelmscott Press (which was going to absolutely rock the world of artistic printing). At first, he hired William Bowden – a retired master printer – to be the compositor and pressman for the operation. It immediately became obvious that Bowden needed help. In a couple of weeks he was joined by his son William Henry Bowden and daughter Jane Elizabeth Bowden.

Jane had married William Thomas Pyne and was referred to as Mrs. Pyne (misspelled by Sparling as “Mrs. Pine“).

Like many women in print, Jane must’ve learned the trade from her father because of the printers’ general hostility to women in the profession. Jane, though, would go on to to become the first woman to be inducted into the London Society of Compositors. When the LSC came to unionize the Kelmscott shop, the employees insisted that they would either all join as members, or not at all:

When the Union authorities approached the men, the latter discussed the whole question, in chapel assembled, and agreed to go in as a “shop” but only as a “shop.” That is to say, there must be no discrimination against non-union men, who must go in on the same terms as the others who were already members, and also that Mrs. Pine must be enrolled with all the rest. No woman had ever yet been admitted to the Union, and its authorities objected to setting up a precedent on the point. The men stuck to their guns, however, and carried the day. Mrs. Pine duly becamethe first woman-member of the L.S.C., though she did not long enjoy the honour, as she followed her father into retirement soon afterwards, but she had made her name historic and opened the way for others.

The Kelmscott press and William Morris master-craftsman by Halliday Sparling

Amy Linnett

Amy Linnett is one of those women that Emily Faithfull fought hard to empower. She was confident, knowledgeable and a professional printer.

In 1892, At the age of 23, Amy contributed a detailed analysis of women compositors’ wages in London to The Economic Review (archive link). In addition to raw data, she also gave sharp insights into the reasons why women earned less than men for the exact same work.

Miss Linnett is twenty-three years of age, and has worked at the case for nearly nine years. She is the eldest daughter of Mr. J. W. Linnett, an old and experienced journalist well known in the Midland counties, and has an elder brother also connected with the provincial press. She acquired her practical training in the office of the Kettering Observer, of which paper her father was then editor and proprietor, assisting occasionally in the lighter reporting. Miss Linnett has spent the last three years in the metropolis, and is now on the staff of the Theosophical Society, at their printing works in St. John’s-wood.

The Printing World, 1892

Amy highlighted that while the printers’ Trade Union would technically permit women’s membership, the Factory Acts placed enormous practical limits on female printers. The Acts treated women the same as child-labour. They were forbidden to work after 6pm and past 2pm on Saturdays. A huge drawback when you’re working in Job Printing shops with unexpected “crunch times” or at a newspaper that’s typeset and printed at night.

Unfortunately, in Amy’s time – 30 years after the founding of Victoria Press – print shop owners who employed women would still face criticism. The fight for equal wages for women compositors continued:

Wherever women compositors were employed on a wide scale, male printers were unanimous in regarding them as an important cause of union weakness and of unemployment in their own ranks. In this context, it is hardly surprising the typographical unions made opposition to the use of women compositors one of the cornerstones of their trade policy. The unions were normally careful, however, to proclaim their opposition to underpaid female labour rather than to women per-se though remarks were occasionally made about the inappropriateness of women doing ‘men’s work.

CRAFT REGULATION AND THE DIVISION OF LABOUR:
ENGINEERS AND COMPOSITORS IN BRITAIN, 1890-1914. JONATHAN HART ZEITLIN

Bonus Notes

Wally

“Wally” is possibly short for “Walburga”. Her last name might appear as Prochaska, Prochazka or even “Prohasta” (an OCR error, where the German blackletter K looks like the English letter T).

Other women printers in history

“Unseen Hands” – a list of Women printers, binders and book designers.

ProQuest’s “Discover Women Printers in Early European Books” brochure.

“The Sister Arts: Fashioning the Victorian Luxury Book” by Holly Forsythe Paul. This exhibition catalogue has many references to other women involved in book arts.

“Speaking in Relief: Women in the Early American Printing Industry” by Emily Petermann, for the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Elizabeth Smith (born. Feb. 17, 1809) in Chillicothe Ohio. Daughter of a print business owner “she was probably the first female typesetter in all the western country“

Other potential woman-owned stationery and printing businesses referred to in The Printers’ International Specimen Exchange (PISE):

Mrs. Townshend of Okehampton‘s business. (Sydenham Janes is listed as “manager to” her business). PISE vol. 4.

Mrs. T. E. Goodner of Midhurst. PISE vol. 6.

Mrs. S. Matkin of High Street Oakham, Rutland. PISE vol. 10.

Mrs. M Westwood of Newport, Salop. Here is a specimen submitted to PISE vol. 8 by her employee Thomas Ralphs. It looks like Thomas is playing with the printers’ slang term “coffin” by presenting himself as an undertaker.

In 1891 Mrs. Mary T. Rogers admitted as the first woman to Boston’s Franklin Typographical Society.

Jewish women who were printers and typesetters:

Further reading on gendered professions and how Publishing became a female-dominated profession: A Gentlewoman’s Profession: The Emergence of Feminized Publishing at Richard Bentley and Son, 1858-
1898 by Sarah Joann Lubelski

If you’re looking to find more women in the printing profession, here are a few ideas:

• Look for women’s names in printing directories like “Kelly’s Directory of Stationers, Printers, Booksellers” and “Müller, Adressbuch des deutschen Buchhandels und verwandter Berufszweige“
  
• For searching in old American newspapers, go to the Library of Congress site at https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
  
• Many European languages have gendered forms for words, try searching digital archives for those female variants of “typesetter”, “printer” and “compositor”.
  
• If you’re using ChatGPT to translate images, remember that Large Language Models have weaknesses in OCR. They’ll hallucinate things and fake out dates.

Emily Faithfull lists several female printers in Three Visits to America:

It is true that here and there women had gained a footing in printing-offices before this. It is even said that the original document of the Declaration of Independence was printed by a lady, one Mary Catherine Goddard. Penelope Russell succeeded her husband in printing The Censor at Boston in 1771; and it is recorded that she not only set type rapidly at case, but often would set up short sketches without any copy at all, “a feat of memory,” says the American newspaper reporter, “rivalling those attributed to Bret Harte while on the Pacific coast.” Mrs. Jane Atkin, of Boston, was also noted in 1802 as a thorough printer and most accurate proof-reader. Several English solitary cases might be cited, and one or two attempts — notably at M’Corquodale’s printing-offices — had been made on a small scale previous to the opening of the Victoria Press.

For more on Emily Faithfull

Emily Faithfull is well known and it is easy to find writing about her and from her.

There is a freely-available digital book about Emily Faithfull called The Caxton of Her Age. (A terrible book title – it is a reference to William Caxton)

In the 1870s, Emily Faithfull and Emma Paterson founded the Women’s Printing Society, a publishing house that allowed women to learn the trade of printing. Elizabeth Yeats studied at the Society before founding Dun Emer Press / Cuala Press in the early 1900s.

For more abut the Victoria Press, visit The Victoria Press Circle. It is a database of the books/magazines printed there, with information about those who contributed their writings and plots of connections between them.

Emily’s sister, Esther Faithfull Fleet was an accomplished illustrator. Te Deum Laudamus is an art book illustrated by Esther, printed by Emily Faithfull. Chromolithographed by Michael & Nicholas Hanhart. My understanding is that older sister Esther painted the illustrations on paper, they were etched on stone by the Hanharts, and then Emily’s team used the stones to print colour prints and bind them into books.

For more on Ann Eccles and Emily Heard

Most of the information I gathered about Ann and Emily came from a great PhD thesis by Patricia Ann Thomas: “Large letter’d as with thundering shout’ : an analysis of typographic posters advertising emigration to New Zealand 1839 – 1875“. (archived PDF, 11Mb)

The thesis above shows Eccles’ and Heard’s poster work for boosting immigration to New Zealand. In the first half of the 1800s, London was covered with a baffling number of posters. Their printing work had to stand out this environment:

A cute ad

I like this printed specimen of an ad from the1885 PISE. It’s an advertisement for Mrs. Kirkland’s shirtmaking business, contributed by Isaac Kirkland. Maybe he’s a husband making an ad for his wife, or a son making a flyer for his mom. Nice and heartwarming.

Theosophists

Amy Linnett’s 1892 profile described her as working at the Theosophical Society. If you want to go down a fantastic rabbit hole, start reading the Wikipedia page for Jiddu Krishnamurti – the “World Teacher” that the Theosophists were expecting. It has wonderful passages like:

The boy was vague, uncertain, woolly; he didn’t seem to care what was happening. He was like a vessel with a large hole in it, whatever was put in, went through, nothing remained.

Krishnamurti himself described his state of mind as a young boy: “No thought entered his mind. He was watching and listening and nothing else. Thought with its associations never arose. There was no image-making. He often attempted to think but no thought would come.”

Did you find this page useful? Discovered specimens of women’s printing you’d like to highlight? Wrote a related blog post? Reach out to me by email at jacob at this site!

When we learned about women printers from Victorian times, I mentioned that Austrian compositor Wally Prohaska worked with a business partner – Anton Halauska.

Anton’s work was quite prominent in the pages of the Printers’ International Specimen Exchange. It was punchy. Just look at this bangin’ self-portrait:

That textured border is made using a technique Anton invented – Selenotype.

Anton was born on May 19, 1852 in Olmütz (Olomouc in Czechia). His father was the University’s printer and also called “Anton”. Here is an online scan of an 1853 book printed by Anton Senior (you can find more of his books at the Olomouc Research Library).

In addition to being a printer, Anton’s father ran a bookstore in Olmütz. In the year 1861, the bookstore failed and his business went bankrupt. That’s a risk that every businessman takes on. But what’s unusual is what his father did next: He lied to his creditors, pretending that he got a fresh cash investment into the business to keep it going.

This lie confused and delayed his creditors in asserting their claims. It bought Anton Sr. an extra month’s worth of time to get back his stock, which was seized by the authorities. Following this episode, in 1869 the whole family decamped to Waidhofen on the Ybbs.

Anton Jr. served one year in the army, and went on to get an eclectic education which included becoming a master stenographer (publishing a book about the subject). Afterwards, Anton wished to found his own print shop in Salzburg but was denied permission. He went on to establish one in the nearby Austrian town of Hallein with with Wally Prohaska – with doors opening on December 15, 1882.

Anton was an “Artistic Printer“, which means that he worked at the cutting edge of print design. Here is an example of Halauska’s printing:

In 1883, a year after establishing his business, Anton’ father passed away at the age of 70. Anton himself will not live to such an old age.

In Hallein, Anton invented the textured printing effect of “Selenotype”. For that and other contributions to print, he received permission to use the imperial eagle in his coat of arms and seal.

In 1888, The British Printer ran a profile of Halauska, shown below. At this point, the talented Austrian printer’ fame has reached England.

The complimentary profile above says that Wally and Anton founded Halauska’s printing works in 1882. But, somehow, ten years later Anton celebrated the 25th anniversary of the business. Was it a little case of “fake it ’till you make it” to boost his reputation?

In 1888, Anton and Wally were awarded a Bronze Medal and Honorary Diploma at the German National Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Munich (as reported in “Buchdrucker-Zeitung” and listed in the official record)

Later, in 1893, Halauska travelled to the World’s Columbian Exposition (“The World Fair”) in Chicago to represent his country.

In 1896, Anton married Augusta Mang in Munich. Augusta was the daughter of the Royal Bavarian cellarmaster.

According to a Jan. 27, 1906 issue of the Hallein Volksfreund, Halauska’s printing house carried on business in Hallein up until 1895. The business apparently moved to Hallein from Zell am See, and Anton claimed to operate in both locations. In 1896, the press finally moved to Salzburg – the original town where Anton wanted to base his business. Notably, Anton published the calendar “Der Bote aus dem Salzachthale” and “Technisches Jahrbuch für den Buch- und Kunstdruck” – a “technical yearbook of book and art printing” with examples produced mostly by Anton himself.

A short 3 years after getting married and moving to Salzburg, Halauska died from an illness. He passed away on the 8th of November, 1899 at his home at 9 Giselakai in Salzburg (source). He was 47 years old.

In 1900 you start seeing references to “Buchdruckerei von A. Halauska’s Witwe” which is the “Printing house of A. Halauska’s Widow”. Augusta may have restarted the business for a while with a partner named “Eiblhuber” or may have simply used the Haulaska name to give endorsements to print equipment manufacturers.

Research resources:

• Links to Austrian domestic & expat newspapers
• Oldnews.com was great for doing text searched through OCR’d documents. Hint: the full digitized document is often available for free outside Oldnews.
• More digital docs at the Austrian National Library.
• Digital Library of the National Library of the Czech Republic
• Olomouc Research Library
• Halauska search at the Salzburg Museum
• For more about Anton Halauska Sr. (in Czech)
• An example of Anton Senior’s printing work: Der Soldat Im Felde, by Hauptmann
• There’s also an academic article about Anton Sr. in Czech called “Olomoucký tiskař Anton Halauska, aneb, ze Seničky do světa”, by Stanislava Kovářová. In Střední Morava. — ISSN 1211-7889. — Roč. 14, č. 26 (2008), s. 123-128
• Here is an example of Anton Halauska’s printing: “Zwei Beiträge zur salzburgischen Geschichte / von J. Widmann” (1897) – (and a local PDF backup)

Apparently there is a book about Salzburg printers, that covers Anton Halauska’s business: Josef Dumler’s Beitrag zur Geschichte des Salzburger Buchdruck- und Zeitungswesens.

Did you find this page useful? Did your own research in German? Wrote a related blog post? Reach out to me by email at jacob at this site!