Matthew 7:28 in The Four Gospels published in 1931 by the Golden Cockerel Press
Type and Wood Engraving by Eric Gill
1. Essays et al: "Typography" by Eric Gill
Yesterday’s themes of beauty and handwriting brought to mind the famous English typographer Eric Gill. Our very first publication included a selection from his chapter "The Book" in his book An Essay on Typography. So today, I offer you a selection from the same book in his chapter "Typography." Here is Gill, early in the chapter:
¶There are, then, two typographies, as there are two worlds; &, apart from God or profits, the test of one is mechanical perfection, and of the other sanctity – the commercial article at its best is simply physically serviceable and, per accidens, beautiful in its efficiency; the work of art at its best is beautiful in its very substance and, per accidens, as serviceable as an article of commerce.
Here’s more, later in the chapter, on the impact machines have on workers:
…the introduction of mechanical methods into small workshops has an immediate effect on the workmen. Inevitably they tend to take more interest in the machine and less in the work, to become machine-minders and to regard wages as the only reward. And good taste ceases to be the result of the restraint put upon his conscience by the workman himself; it becomes a thing imposed upon him by his employer.
Gill concludes by summing up his argument, namely,
not that industrialism has made things worse, but that it has inevitably made them different; and that whereas before industrialism there was one world, now there are two. The nineteenth century attempt to combine industrialism with the Humane was necessarily doomed, and the failure is now evident. To get the best out of the situation we must admit the impossibility of compromise; we must, in as much as we are industrialists, glory in industrialism and its powers of mass-production, seeing that good taste in its products depends upon their absolute plainness and serviceableness; and in so much as we remain outside industrialism, as doctors, lawyers, priests and poets of all kinds must necessarily be, we may glory in the fact that we are responsible workmen & can produce only one thing at a time. ¶ That if you look after goodness and truth beauty will take care of itself, if true in both worlds. The beauty that industrialism properly produces is the beauty of bones; the beauty that radiates from the work of men is the beauty of holiness.
2. Books & Culture: Review of An Essay on Typography
and Interview with Eric Gill
Since you have to be a subscriber to The New York Times
to access this review of Gill’s An Essay on Typography, I’ve excerpted the review for any non-subscribers (a link to the full review is at the end for subscribers). Here is how Rand describes Gill’s goal:
Gill’s ultimate goal, like that of any serious artist, had less to do with means than with ends - the proper balance between form and content, between man and machine. He cautions the worker not to get too involved with the machine. "It is important that the workman should not have to watch his instrument, that his whole attention should be given to work." "The mind," he further asserts, "is the arbiter of letter forms, not the tool or the material." For those dazzled by the computer, who see the machine as a magic muse, these words are particularly useful.
More on lettering and beauty and the relationship between speech and the printed word:
To Gill’s eye, lettering was "as beautiful a thing to see as any sculpture or painted picture." Yet the relationship between words and spelling, between printed words and speech, he considered irrational, and he suggested that some sort of shorthand system, which he called phonography, be provided as a possible solution. "We need a system in which there is real correspondence between speech . . . the sounds of language and the means of communication." This had nothing to do with speed. "Think slowly, speak slowly, write slowly" is what he exhorted his readers.
Forgive me, but I cannot contain myself…here’s one more bonus. In case you love beauty and the Gospels and you’re simultaneously really interested in Gill’s typography and engravings,
the Folio Society offers a facsimile of the Golden Cockerel Press 1931 KJV Gospels (only 488 copies originally printed, which are found in pre-eminent institutions and private collections around the world). It’s a beautiful cloth bound edition printed in Gill’s Golden Cockerel type with Gill’s "exquisite, dramatic, and imaginative wood engravings"; also includes ribbon marker, gilded page tops, and blocked slipcase. Ok, I'm done peddling...for now.
3. Bible & Fathers: On the Veneration of Beautiful Bones by St John of Damascus
The last paragraph of Gill’s chapter on "Typography" has long been one of my favorite passages. In case you missed it, here it is again:
That if you look after goodness and truth beauty will take care of itself, if true in both worlds. The beauty that industrialism properly produces is the beauty of bones; the beauty that radiates from the work of men is the beauty of holiness.
That last bit on "the beauty of bones" and "the beauty of holiness" reminded me of the role relics play in the tradition of the Church. So I dug up a passage on that subject by St John of Damascus, the seventh/eighth century defender of icons who is not only my personal patron saint, but also the patron saint of my godfather Warren Farha (founder and owner of Eighth Day Books), and of Eighth Day Institute. Here’s a short passage from the beginning of the fifteenth chapter of his work On the Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith:
because they have freely been united to God and received Him as a dweller within themselves have through association with Him become by grace what He is by nature. How, then, should these not be honored who have been accounted servants, friends, and sons of God? For the honor shown the most sensible of one’s fellow servants gives proof of one’s love for the common Master.
These are become repositories and pure dwelling places of God, for "I will dwell in them and walk among them," says God, "and I will be their God" (2 Cor. 6:16; Lev. 26:12).
About halfway through the chapter, he turns to relics:
In the relics of the saints the Lord Christ has provided us with saving fountains which in many ways pour out benefactions and gush with fragrant ointment (the epithet myroblytus, or "gushing ointment," is applied to certain saints whose relics exude a fragrant oil). And let no one disbelieve. For, if by the will of God water poured out of the precipitous living rock in the desert, and for the thirsty Sampson from the jawbone of an ass (cf. Ex. 17:6; Judges 15:19), is it unbelievable that fragrant ointment should flow from the relics of martyrs? Certainly not, at least for such as know the power of God and the honor, which the saints have from Him.
**All books (and icons) in print available from Eighth Day Books.
Please support an independent bookstore that believes in the eighth day resurrection of our God and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Give them a call at 1.800.841.2541 or visit their website here. And don’t forget Eighth Day Members (Patrons+) receive 10% discount, plus many other perks! Learn more and become a member here.
