Papers of Stanley Morison

Stanley Morison (1889-1967) was the preeminent authority on typography in Britain in the 20th century. Besides his many publications, his influence was exerted partly through his positions as a consultant to the Monotype Corporation, to The Times newspaper (for which he designed Times Roman in 1932), and to the University Press, Cambridge.

Almost all Morison's books and papers were destroyed by enemy bombs on 10/11 May 1941. This collection therefore consists chiefly of papers he accumulated after that date, although some earlier papers have come into the collection from other sources.

Morison's own papers, the main part of this collection, were given to the Library by his executors. For the story of this gift see Brooke Crutchley, To be a printer (1980), 183-5, and D. J. McKitterick, 'Typographers tallied: the origin and growth of the Stanley Morison Room, Cambridge University Library', Matrix 5 (1985), 15-22. Other considerable parts of the collection were contributed by Brooke Crutchley, Nicolas Barker, John Waynflete Carter, and others.

Please cite as Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Papers of Stanley Morison, MS Add.9812

This finding aid was prepared by J. F. Coakley in 2009 and revised with additions in 2013. Except for the latest additions, the collection corresponds to part of the old 'MS Morison'. The present series numbers A-H supersede the old series numbers I-XIX. The old arrangement was made in the 1970s, and a handwritten finding-aid keyed to these numbers served readers in the reading room until 2010. A concordance to these numbers is as follows: I Miscellaneous correspondence = D. II Notebooks = E2. III Eric Gill = G. IV Reynolds Stone = D/264. V Monotype = B1. VI Cambridge University Press = B2. VII The Times = B3. VIII Consultations for newspaper and magazine typography = B4. IX Typographical questions etc. = various. X Compositions by Morison = A. XI Miscellaneous notes = E2. XII John Fell = A/64. XIII Lyell Lectures Politics and script = A/68. XIV Encyclopaedia Britannica = C. XV Printing and the mind of man = A/60, 65. XVI Compositions by others = E3. XVII Miscellaneous typographical questions = various. XVIII Financial papers = E1. XIX Papers about Morison = H. This is approximate: many papers have been regrouped.