The Kynoch Press: The Anatomy of a Printing House 1876-1981 (review)

Beginning as an in-house printer of sporting and military cartridge wrappers in 1876, the Kynoch Press ventured to keep pace with the changing publishing industry throughout a century of operation, primarily through innovative typefaces. The press's facility with typesets is thoroughly examined by Caroline Archer's acute and succinct history of Kynoch, The Kynoch Press: The Anatomy of a Printing House 1876-1981.

From his Birmingham base, George Kynoch built his metal works company into the second largest ammunition producer in England and, at the zenith of his wealth, sold the metal works, including the Kynoch Press, in 1884, though he retained the role of managing director. Following World War I, Kynoch Ltd. joined a conglomerate of ammunition suppliers called Nobel Industries, which was subsequently sold to Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), a large British corporation primarily dealing in metals, in 1926. The press continued operating under the management of ICI until shortly before its closure, but regardless of its parent company, Kynoch remained merely a department of an otherwise unrelated business, a position that both aided in its success and ultimately resulted in its demise.

Archer chronicles in detail this ebb and flow of prosperity and decline by integrating personal interviews (when possible) and historical description while suggesting that the relative prosperity of the printing house was directly related to the acquisition of innovative typefaces by its various managing directors. George Kynoch's successor, Donald Hope (1900-1921), brought the press national recognition by reviving English Victorian typefaces when other British presses were searching the Continent for typographical inspiration. Stimulated by the Arts and Crafts movement, Herbert Simon (1922-33) expanded upon Hope's aesthetic acquisitions, simultaneously created a design department within the press (a rarity for its time), and published the Kynoch Press Notebook and Diaries to attract design-oriented clients outside of ICI.

Archer seems to neglect an unfruitful period in the press's history in a brief three-page outline of H. V. Davis, a manager with a background in finance who neglected Kynoch's typographical heritage in favor of trimming the ledger books. After only four years, Davis was replaced by Michael Clapham (1938-45), who oversaw the press during the sparse war years but, significantly, initiated the inaugural publication of the scientific journal Endeavour in 1942.

In a particularly effective chapter, Archer recounts the tenure of John "Jock" Kennedy by intertwining interviews with historical description into a multifaceted portrayal of the printing process from design to proof. Like his predecessors, Kennedy brought the press to the forefront of the industry by focusing on design. But where previous directors had gained prominence through innovative typeface purchases, Kennedy succeeded by establishing a solid design department within the press and purchasing a four-color lithography machine. Not only did this expertise and technological advantage attract customers outside of ICI, but the press was also employed by other printers for its design capabilities.

Due to Jock Kennedy's alcoholism (a significant piece of information not sufficiently glossed in the book), Wallis Heath (1959-76) was installed as managing director and sought, through exporting and computer lithographic advances, to find a niche for the midsized publisher within the changing market. Despite these efforts, Heath was only moderately successful, and in 1976 his successor, Harry Wainwright (1976-81), was charged with the unfortunate task of selling the company. Though he found a suitable buyer in 1979 in Gilmer and Dean, the press closed two years later following a failed management buyout due in part to the union's unwillingness to accept any layoffs.

Perhaps because of the author's expertise in typography (Archer currently holds a position as a researcher at the University of Reading's Department of Typography), the extensive cataloging and explanation of Kynoch's typefaces is by and large responsible for the book...