Lawrence Johnson (type-founder)
| Lawrence Johnson | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
23 January 1801 Kingston-upon-Hull, England |
| Died | 24 April 1860 (aged 59) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Resting place | St Thomas' Churchyard, Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania |
| Residence | 727 & 729 Pine Street, Philadelphia |
| Nationality | English |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
| Occupation | Type-founder / businessman |
| Known for | Stereotyping & type-founding |
| Style | L. Johnson and Company Johnson & Smith The Johnson Type Foundry |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Bacon Murray Mary Winder |
| Parent(s) | Edward Johnson and Ann Clayton |
Lawrence Johnson (23 January 1801 – 24 April 1860), was born and educated in England. After an early apprenticeship in the printing industry, he emigrated to America in his youth, and became an eminent stereotyper and type-founder in Philadelphia and one of the most extensive and successful type-founders in the United States.
Lawrence Johnson was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, England, on 23 January 1801, the second son and third child of Edward Johnson and Ann Clayton. He was baptised in Holy Trinity Church on 2 March 1801. Johnson was educated in Hull and in Bungay, Suffolk, England. At the age of twelve, he was sent to learn the printing and publishing business with the firm of Brightly and Childs, which was represented in Hull by his father, Edward. This firm, which operated a paper mill and an extensive printing office and stereotype foundry, was established in 1795, and was for many years among the largest printers and publishers of periodical works in Great Britain. He apprenticed with Brightly and Childs for several years until sailing with his parents for America in 1818.
On arriving in America, Johnson secured a position in Troy, New York, with The Northern Budget, a Republican weekly newspaper. In spring 1819, he began working in New York City in the printing office of Bunce and Gray, often working sixteen to eighteen hours a day. Having observed the art of stereotyping in England, where his first employer, Brightly and Childs, had been among the first to adopt it, Johnson sought to learn more about the practice, and in 1820 he entered the employment of B. & J. Collins, one of two firms that did nearly all of the stereotyping in New York. Having acquired a sufficient knowledge of stereotyping, he soon left for Philadelphia to establish his own enterprise. There, despite his limited means and knowledge, he managed to develop a successful stereotyping business. Initially his stereotype foundry was located at 17 Cypress Alley in Philadelphia. By the late 1820s it was located at 6 George Street (later renamed 606–608 Sansom Street), where it remained until 1906 when the property was sold to the Curtis Publishing Company. Prior to the establishment of Johnson's foundry, those publishers in Philadelphia who wanted to use stereotyping for book printing sent their orders to New York. One of Johnsons's earliest successful efforts in stereotyping was Henry's Commentary on the Scriptures for the publishers, Tower and Hogan.
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