Place    From 1893  To 1917

Doves Bindery

Categories: Commerce, Literature

The Doves Press in Hammersmith was founded in 1900 by Thomas Cobden-Sanderson in partnership with Emery Walker and was named after the nearby pub. Sanderson had already set up The Doves Bindery in 1893 and it bound all the books that Doves printed as well as many of the Kelmscott books. The enterprise was an examplar of the Arts and Crafts movement. They used their own type, The Doves Type, based on types from the middle ages. Emery and Sanderson fell out and the partnership was dissolved in 1908. Regarding the typeface they agreed that Sanderson could continue to use it and that eventual ownership would rest with whoever outlived the other. Sanderson (the older man) was not happy with this and by 1917 he had thrown all of the type into the Thames from Hammersmith Bridge (piece by piece, at night), all but one piece which is preserved in the Emery Walker Library, housed at the Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum. Sanderson had already ceased printing during the war but the destruction of the type saw the end of the Press. He moved into the building and died there a few years later.

2015 - amazing, someone has retrieved the type from the river!

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Doves Bindery

Commemorated ati

Doves Bindery and Press

Initially (ha-ha) we were puzzled by the letters at the bottom of this plaque...

Read More

Thomas Cobden-Sanderson

Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, 1840-1922, founded the Doves Bindery and Doves...

Read More

Other Subjects

National Westminster Bank

National Westminster Bank

Usually referred to as the NatWest Bank. It was formed from the merger of the National Provincial and Westminster Banks. Since 2000 it has been part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group.

Group, Commerce

1 memorial
USS Ltd
1 memorial
W. Beeson & Sons

W. Beeson & Sons

Trader at Covent Garden Market at its original site.

Group, Commerce

1 memorial
George Hibbert

George Hibbert

Merchant and politician. Born in Manchester. Along with Robert Milligan, he was the driving force behind the creation of the West India Docks. MP for Seaford from 1806 to 1812. Helped found the Roy...

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration, Race Issues

1 memorial
Lord Overstone, Samuel Jones Loyd

Lord Overstone, Samuel Jones Loyd

Wealthy banker. One of the Commissioners for the Great Exhibition, 1851. Banker. Born 43 Lothbury, London. Died at home, 2 Carlton Gardens.

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration

1 memorial