''Signature: A Quadrimestrial of Typography and the Graphic Arts'' was a British magazine of

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

and the graphic arts. Published and edited by Oliver Simon, it was subsidised and printed by the

Curwen Press The Curwen Press was founded by the Reverend John Curwen in 1863 to publish sheet music for the "tonic sol-fa" system. The Press was based in Plaistow, Newham, east London, England, where Curwen was a pastor from 1844. The Curwen Press is be ...

, of which Simon was a director. It appeared in fifteen volumes from 1935 to 1940, and eighteen volumes from 1946 to 1954 as a new series.

As a typographic magazine

''Signature'' has been regarded historically as primarily a typographic magazine, given Simon’s promise in the original prospectus to keep its readers informed of the main current typographic events. It has also been bracketed with other inter-war periodicals of typography, ''

The Fleuron ''The Fleuron'' was a British journal of typography and book arts published in seven volumes from 1923 to 1930. A fleuron is a floral ornament used by typographers. In 1922 Stanley Morison — the influential typographical advisor to Monotype � ...

'' and ''Typography'', as the subject of a book by Grant Shipcott which concentrates on the typographical aspects. Shipcott, G. (1980), ''Typographical Periodicals between the Wars'', Oxford Polytechnic Press. , . Shipcott praised the quality of design and production, while faulting ''Signature'' for being weighted towards the historical rather than the contemporary.

Forum for graphic artists

However, Simon’s pronounced sympathy for contemporary art meant that along with essays by leading writers of typography and the book arts, such as

Beatrice Warde Beatrice Lamberton Warde (September 20, 1900 – September 16, 1969, née Beatrice Becker) was a twentieth-century writer and scholar of typography. As a marketing manager for the British Monotype Corporation, she was influential in the dev ...

(using the pseudonym Paul Beaujon) and

Stanley Morison Stanley Arthur Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces o ...

, ''Signature'' also included early original graphic work and writings on their art by both

Graham Sutherland Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmaking ...

and John Piper. Art historian Andrew Causey observed that "no journal can make a greater claim to have stimulated the taste that became neo-romanticism", a term applied to the imaginative and often quite abstract landscape-based painting of Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland, John Piper, and others in the late 1930s and 1940s. Simon was a friend and early patron of both Sutherland and Piper, and a friend of Paul Nash since 1919. The lithographic work by Sutherland that Simon commissioned for the ''Curwen Press Newsletter'' cover in 1936 is a broad adaption of the design of his painting ''Mobile Mask'' shown at the International Surrealism Exhibition at the Burlington Galleries London in June and July 1936. Simon noted that it "evoked at the time a certain amount of hostility both inside and outside the Press". From

Edward Bawden Edward Bawden, (10 March 1903 – 21 November 1989) was an English painter, illustrator and graphic artist, known for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture. Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had be ...

, it drew "congratulations on the new Newsletter and the first appearance of surrealism in the commercial field". In 1937 Sutherland's advertisement for zinc lithographic plates in ''Signature'' issue six and his menu design for the 56th Dinner of the

Double Crown Club The Double Crown Club is a dining club and society of printers, publishers, book designers and illustrators in London that was founded in 1924. Among its early members was the typographer Stanley Morison. According to Sir Sydney Roberts, writing i ...

reproduced in issue five both use elements of surrealism. The frontispiece of issue nine in July 1938 was an

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

and

aquatint Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. For this reason it has mostly been used in conjunction with etching, to give both lines and shaded tone. It has also been used ...

by Sutherland titled ''Clegyr Boia''. This was Sutherland's first use of aquatint with etching, and in his new style, quite different from his earlier etchings.

Published issues

Issue Five, March 1937 included three auto-lithographs by

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsc ...

. These were his second, third and fourth published lithographs and were early designs for his book ''High Street''. Issue Six, July 1937 included the first published lithograph by John Piper. The work ''Invention in Colour'' is one of only two abstract lithographs that Piper made. For issue Thirteen, May 1939, Piper contributed an auto-lithograph titled ''Cheltenham'', an architectural subject more in the style with which he would become associated. Many of ''Signature's'' articles were the first ever authoritative essays on subjects, for example on the books published by

Ambroise Vollard Ambroise Vollard (3 July 1866 – 21 July 1939) was a French art dealer who is regarded as one of the most important dealers in French contemporary art at the beginning of the twentieth century. He is credited with providing exposure and emoti ...

, and the first hand-list of books illustrated by

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...

, which the artist himself corrected. The growing influence before World War II of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

on many artists shone through. The excavation and rehabilitation of the artistic reputations of artists well known and appreciated today such as

Samuel Palmer Samuel Palmer Hon.RE (Hon. Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers) (27 January 180524 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and pr ...

and

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as '' The Nightmare'', deal with supernatu ...

began in ''Signature'' and have been said to stand out as 'moments when a change of direction in art can be discerned'. Essays and/or artwork by artists such as

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was an English painter, print-maker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All ...

, Edward Bawden,

Barnett Freedman Barnett Freedman CBE RDI (19 May 1901 – 4 January 1958) was a British painter, commercial designer, book illustrator, typographer, and lithographer. Biography Early life and education Barnett Freedman was born in Stepney, in the east ...

, Lynton Lamb,

Enid Marx Enid Crystal Dorothy Marx, RDI (20 October 1902 – 18 May 1998), was an English painter and designer, best known for her industrial textile designs for the London Transport Board and the Utility furniture Scheme. Marx was the first female engr ...

, and Paul Nash also featured regularly. Wells, N. (2022), '' Accidental Alchemy: Oliver Simon, Signature Magazine, and the rise of British Neo-Romantic Art'', Unicorn Publishing. {{ISBN, 9781914414343. ''Signature'' was Simon’s second periodical after ''The Fleuron'' which he edited with Stanley Morison. It is one of a series of British typographic magazines including ''The Fleuron'' (1923–1930), the ''Monotype Recorder'', ''Typography'' (1936–1939), ''Alphabet and Image'' (1946–1952), ''

Typographica ''Typographica'' was the name of a journal of typography and visual arts founded and edited by Herbert Spencer from 1949 to 1967. Spencer was just 25 years old when the first ''Typographica'' was issued. He also served as the editor of the journal ...

'' (1949–1967), ''Motif'' (1958–1967), ''

Baseline A baseline is a line that is a base for measurement or for construction. The word baseline may refer to: * Baseline (configuration management), the process of managing change * Baseline (sea), the starting point for delimiting a coastal state' ...

'' (1979–present), ''The Matrix'' (1981–present) and ''

Eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

'' (1990–present).

References

1935 establishments in the United Kingdom 1946 establishments in the United Kingdom 1940 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1954 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 1940 Magazines disestablished in 1954 Magazines established in 1935 Magazines established in 1946 Triannual magazines published in the United Kingdom Typography Visual arts magazines published in the United Kingdom