Alfred Fairbank

Alfred John Fairbank CBE (12 July 1895 – 14 March 1982) was a British calligrapher and author on handwriting.[1][2]

Influenced by Edward Johnston, Fairbank[3] was a founding member of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators in 1921, and became chairman.[4] He was involved in the foundation of the Society for Italic Handwriting in 1952; his work and 1932 textbook A Handwriting Manual were influential on the italic script handwriting taught in British schools.[5][6] His portrait was painted by Anna Hornby.[7][8] For Penguin Books he wrote A Book of Scripts, on writing systems used throughout the world.[9] Fairbanks was a civil servant who spent his professional career working at the Admiralty in London and Bath; he retired to Hove on the south coast and lectured at what is now the University of Brighton after his retirement.[10][11][12][13]

Fairbank also designed one upright italic typeface for Monotype.[14] It was named "Bembo Condensed Italic", Monotype series 294 as part of their Bembo family, a name which irritated Fairbank who thought it should have been kept as an independent design.[15] This face was for the composition caster in metal type only available in 4 sizes: 10, 12, 13 and 16pt. The last size was made for large composition. It was digitised in 2004 as "Fairbank".[16][17][18]

Publications by Alfred Fairbank
  • S. P.E. Tract No XXVIII English Handwriting Continued from Tract XXIII with Thirty-one Additional Plates, Alfred Fairbank, Edited By Robert Seymour Bridges (1844–1930) with Notes on penmanship, At the Claredon Press Oxford University Press 1927, P.[223]-251, 35–65 pages. fasc,[19]
  • A Handwriting Manual, Leicester, The Dryad Press, 1932
    • revised edition 1947: The Dryad Press, Leicester, printed at the Curwen Press, Plaistow, E.13,
    • third edition: revised and enlarged, 1961: London, Faber and Faber, 95 p., [32] p. pl,[20]
  • The Dryad Cards, Originally issued in 1935 as: The Barking Writing Cards. publisher: The Dryad Press, Leicester.[21]
  • Lettering Of To-Day, C.G. Holme; Eberhard Holscher, Alfred Fairbank, Anna Simons, Percy J. Smith, and R. Haughton James, Studio 1937
  • A book of scripts, 1949, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, The King Penguin Books nr. 48, 64 p, ill., facs,[22]
  • Augustino Da Siena, the 1568 Edition of His Writing Book in Facsimile, Alfred Fairbank, publisher: David Godine, Boston, 1975. limited edition of 750 copies
  • BEACON WRITING: A Course in Italic Set of 6, Alfred Fairbank, publisher: Ginn & Company LTD, London, 1958
  • Humanistic script of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Alfred John Fairbank & Richard William Hunt (1908–1979), Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodleian picture books nr. 12, 8 p., 24 p. facs.[23]
  • Renaissance Handwriting: An Anthology of Italic Scripts, Alfred Fairbank & Berthold L. Wolpe (1905–1989), publishers: The World Publishing Company & Faber & Faber, London, 1960, 104, 96 p, facs,[24]
  • The Italic Hand in Tudor Cambridge: Forty-one Examples, Alfred Fairbank & Bruce Dickins. publisher: Bowes & Bowes, London, 1962, Monograph / Cambridge Bibliographical Society no. 5, VIII, 32 p., 24 p. pl, facs.[25]
  • How to Teach the Italic Hand Through the Beacon Writing Books, Alfred Fairbank, Ginn 1963
  • Calligraphy and Palaeography, essays presented to Alfred Fairbank on his 70th birthday, ed. by A.S. Osley, publisher: Faber & Faber, London, 1965, with index. XXIII, 286 p, illustrations,[26]
  • Lettering – Modes of Writing in Western Europe from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century, Hermann Degering with preface By Alfred Fairbank, Ernest Benn Ltd., London 1965 & Pentalic Corporation, N Y, 1965
  • The Story of Handwriting: Origins and Development, Alfred Fairbank, Faber & Faber 1970

References
  1. "Alfred Fairbank" (PDF). Klingspor Museum. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. "Obituary". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  3. Photo
  4. "Former Chairmen". The Society of Scribes and Illuminators. Retrieved 14 May 2016. At the instance of Stanley Morison, he [Fairbank] designed in 1928 the elegant compact typeface known as Narrow Bembo, a title he detested.
  5. "Society for Italic Handwriting – History". Society for Italic Handwriting. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  6. Sassoon, Rosemary (2007). Handwriting of the Twentieth Century. Intellect Books. pp. 71–5. ISBN 978-1-84150-178-9.
  7. "Papers of Anna Hornby - Held at: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford". Archives Hub. Archived from the original on 1 August 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  8. Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905–1970, Vol IV (EP Publishing LTD, 1979)
  9. A Book of Scripts. Penguin Books. 1949.
  10. "Alfred Fairbank". Arts and Humanities department. University of Brighton. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  11. "Alfred Fairbank (1895–1982)". VADS. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  12. "Calligraphy and Palaeography: Essays Presented to Alfred Fairbank on His 70th Birthday. A. S. Osley (review)". doi:10.1086/619520. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. Classical Mediaeval and Reinassance Studies in honor of Berthold Louis Ullman. Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. pp. 255–257. GGKEY:5CR8RLSTFAY.
  14. "Alfred Fairbank". MyFonts. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  15. Osley, A.S. (1965). Calligraphy and paleography: essays presented to Alfred Fairbank on his 70th birthday. Faber & Faber. p. 18. His only contribution to type design has been the so-called Narrow Bembo Italic ... it was conceived as an italic type to be used entirely in its own right and not in any way related to Monotype Bembo, which Fairbank had not seen.
  16. "Fairbank". Monotype. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  17. "Fairbank". MyFonts. Monotype.
  18. "Fairbanks Italic specimen" (PDF). Monotype. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  19. http://www.kb.nl Royal Library The Hague, request: S 1425 28
  20. http://www.kb/nl%5B%5D Royal Library The Hague, code: 0347 yd, request: LHO HS.B 76k FAIhan
  21. Alfred Fairbank, A book of Scripts, page 35, Penguin Books, 1949
  22. http://www.kb.nl Royal Library The Haque code: 0347 y, request: ADT 811
  23. http://www.KB.nl Royal Library The Hague: code 1381 eaf, request: LHO HS.B 42k FAIhum
  24. http://www.kb.nl Royal Library The Hague code: 1381 eaf, request: LHO HS.B 42k FAIren
  25. http://www.kb.nl Royal Library The Hague code: 1381 ecb
  26. http://www.kb.nl Royal Library The Haque, codes: 347 y, 0311 bba, 1381 cd, request: LHO HS.B 04 FAI
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