Stephens, Shanks & Sons Ltd.

Stephens, Shanks & Sons Ltd.

Former type	Ltd.
Industry	Type foundry
Founded	1933
Defunct	1970's
Headquarters	Southwark, London

Stephens, Shanks & Sons Ltd. was an English type foundry formed in 1933 by the merger of the Figgins Foundry with P. M. Shanks (Patent Type Foundry) to form Stevens, Shanks. Sometime after 1971 the foundry ceased operations and all materials (including Figgins' punches and matrices) went to St. Bride's Printing Library.^[1]

Figgins Foundry

Vincent Figgins was an apprentice at Jackson's Foundry, but unable to purchase that foundry at Jackson's death. He therefore started his own firm in 1792. The term sans-serif was first employed in 1830 by by the Figgins foundry. The founder's grandson, R. H. Stephens, arranged the merger with Shanks.

Patent Type Foundry

The foundry was started 1855 by John Huffam King. It was sold 1857 and renamed Patent Type-Founding Company. The foundry purchased a Johnson automatic typecasting machine in 1873. Known as P.M. Shanks & Co. from 1881 and finally as P.M. Shanks and Sons, Ltd. until it's merger with Stevens.

Typefaces

These foundry types were produced by Stephens, Shanks^[2]:

• Bessemer (1936, Dennis Morgan)
• Bristol (1925, Gans Type Foundry)
• Clarence Condensed (c. 1910, R.H. Stevens)
• Expanded Antique (c. 1880) originally cast by the Figgins Foundry.
• Extra Onamented 2
• Extended 3
• Figgins Condensed No. 2 (c. 1870) originally cast by the Figgins Foundry.
• Figgins Shaded (1815) originally cast by the Figgins Foundry.
• Gresham (1925) originally cast by the Figgins Foundry (c. 1796).
• Rosart (1925, Gans Type Foundry)

References

1. ^ "[UK Stevens, Shanks Pro"]. Dr. David M. MacMillan. 1999-02-22. http://circuitousroot.com/artifice/letters/press/noncomptype/typography/stevens-shanks/index.html. Retrieved 2011-10-20. 
2. ^ Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983, ISBN 0-7137-1347-X, p. 2408-249