Exhibition featuring the famous Doves type opens in Victorian printmaker’s house in Hammersmith

An exhibition has opened in a Victorian printmaker’s house in Hammersmith showing never before seen pieces of the famous Doves type.

The pieces are part of a moveable typeface created in 1899 by bookmaking partners Emery Walker and Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson.

The pair, who were part of the Arts and Crafts movement, opened a press in Hammersmith at the turn of the century.

There they made beautiful hand-crafted books using their unique typeface – named the Doves type after a local pub.

Their most famous work is the Doves Bible, printed from 1902 to 1904.

But their relationship soured, and in 1909 their partnership ended, with the agreement that Cobden-Sanderson would have use of the typeface until his death where it would be handed over to Walker.

But Cobden-Sanderson, feeling that Walker was not entitled to the font, had other plans for the typeface and cast the whole type, consisting of over a tonne of lead, off of Hammersmith Bridge into the river.

But while scouring the Thames foreshore for artifacts, a mudlark found 11 pieces of the typeface.

Jason Sandy, who found the pieces, donated them to the Emery Walker Trust.

He said: “It’s quite significant that this is the first time that the type is being reunited with some of the original books that were printed with that type.

“It’s the first time ever that the two are brought together.”

Other exhibition highlights include double page spreads from the Kelmscott Chaucer and Doves Bible.

Another high point is The Odyssey, translated by T. E. Lawrence, a close friend of the Walker family, and now regarded as one of the most beautiful private press books of the 20th century.

This was Walker’s final achievement, printed just a year before his death.

Visitors can also see proof pages, and an uncut Kelmscott Press printing block, demonstrating the collaboration between Walker and the artist William Morris.

Walker was one of the first printers to create plates from photographs, rather than using the laborious hand-carved processes which dated back to the 15th century.

He founded his own company in Fleet Street in 1886, specialising in cutting-edge techniques for reproducing works of art and photographs as book illustrations.

He also gave a ground-breaking lecture on typography, and invaluable advice on book production to key members of the Arts & Crafts movement putting him at the heart of 20th century’s developments in typography and printing.The new exhibition space at the printer’s house at 7 Hammersmith Terrace has been years in the planning.

The house’s curator Helen Elletson said: “Since the Emery Walker Trust was set up over 20 years ago, we’ve always aspired to create an exhibitions programme. This long-held ambition has now been realised.

“This intimate, historic room now has three beautifully-lit museum showcases to enable the planning of an exciting range of exhibitions to display our wonderful and varied reserve collection, which ranges from arts and crafts ceramics and glassware to Eastern jewellery and textiles and means we can introduce external loans to visitors for the first time.”

Emery Walker and the Private Press Movement is included in the guided tours of the house and garden until the end of May 2022. Visitors must pre-book at Emerywalker.org.uk.