Typographia, or The Printers' Instructor

Johnson's 1824 history of printing and study of contemporary practices is still of interest to historians, bibliographers and printers.

John Johnson (1777–1848) produced this study of the history and art of printing in 1824. Volume 2 deals with the practical aspects of the contemporary print trade, and is of particular interest to historians. Johnson was working when printing was being mechanised, and new types of presses were appearing.John Johnson (1777–1848) worked for a private press at Lee Priory, Kent, which published limited editions of poetry, prose and pamphlets, but was not financially successful. Moving to London in 1824, Johnson produced this two-volume work on printing, which had become a popular topic in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The work was published in several formats, and contemporary reviewers noted Johnson's highly ornate typography and use of engravings more than the contents. Volume 2 is useful to modern students of printing, as it deals with the practical aspects of the print trade. It includes numerous specimens of type in different alphabets, and explanations of type casting and imposition. It also describes how to manage a print shop, as well as the different kinds of press, including recent inventions such as the Stanhope, Columbian and Albion, and ends with a brief account of steam presses and stereotype.