Andrew White Tuer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Andrew White Tuer
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| Born | 25 December 1838 Sunderland, England |
| Died | 24 February 1900 (aged 61) London, England |
| Resting place | Kensal Green Cemetery, London, England |
| Occupation | Publisher, printer, author, typographer, inventor |
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Andrew White Tuer (1838–1900) was a British publisher, writer, and printer. He was known for his creative ideas in printing and publishing. He also invented useful items like a special glue and a writing pad.
Early Life and New Ideas
Andrew White Tuer was born in Sunderland, England, in 1838. He became an orphan when he was young. His great-uncle, Andrew White, raised him.
After finishing his education, Andrew moved to London. He first planned to become a doctor. However, he soon realized that this was not the right path for him. He then worked in a merchant's office for a while. Later, he started his own business selling stationery in large amounts.
In 1862, Andrew Tuer teamed up with Abraham Field. Field was already making ledgers, which are books for keeping records. Their new company was called Field & Tuer.
Andrew Tuer was very good at coming up with new ideas. He invented a popular glue called Stickphast Paste. This glue was clean and made from plants. It was a much better choice than the messy glues used back then. He also created the Author's Paper Pad. This was one of the first writing pads with sheets that you could easily tear off.
Growing the Business
In 1867, Andrew Tuer married Thomasine Louisa Louttit. She was known as a talented opera singer. The next year, Field & Tuer moved to a bigger office at 50 Leadenhall Street in London. This new space allowed Tuer to follow his dream of publishing books.
In 1872, Tuer started a magazine called Paper & Printing Trades Journal. It came out every three months. The magazine was a way for stationers, printers, publishers, and booksellers to share ideas.
Tuer also helped with the Caxton Celebration in 1877. This event celebrated 400 years since printing came to England. Tuer was in charge of showing different examples of printing.
After this event, Tuer and another printer, Thomas Hailing, wanted to make printing better. In 1880, they started the Printers' International Specimen Exchange. This was a special project where printers, their workers, and apprentices could send in samples of their work. In return, they would get a book with copies of all the accepted samples. Tuer published and edited this Exchange for the first eight years.
The Leadenhall Press
In 1879, Field & Tuer launched their own publishing company called the Leadenhall Press. The first official book they published was Tuer's own Luxurious Bathing. This book was about the joys of being clean. It included special pictures called etchings by Sutton Sharpe. The company Scribner helped sell these books in the United States.
The next year, a second edition of Luxurious Bathing came out. It was smaller and had etchings by Tristram Ellis. Andrew Tuer loved collecting things. This led him to write a two-volume book called Bartolozzi and his Works. This book told the story of an artist named Bartolozzi. It also helped people figure out when his prints were made and how to spot fake ones. It even listed over 2,000 of his engravings.
In 1884, Tuer published a fun book called Quads within Quads. It was a collection of jokes from printers that had appeared in the Paper & Printing Trades Journal. This book was very unique. It was a tiny book placed inside a block of extra pages at the back of a larger book.
The books published by the Leadenhall Press showed Tuer's lively and playful personality. He was very interested in old things, like the history of London and early children's books. But Tuer also liked to try new things. Some of his books were very modern in their content, design, and printing style.
Under Tuer's leadership, the Leadenhall Press published over 450 different books. These books covered many topics and were written by famous authors and illustrators of that time. They ranged in price from very cheap to very expensive special editions.
In 1891, Abraham Field passed away. The next year, the company became Leadenhall Press Ltd. Tuer continued publishing throughout the 1890s. One of his most important books was published in 1896. It was called History of the Horn-Book. This book is still considered the best study on the subject of horn-books, which were old learning tools for children.
Andrew Tuer died on February 24, 1900, from a lung illness. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. The Pall Mall Gazette newspaper wrote that London publishing had lost a lot of its fun and humor with his death. They said he was always cheerful and wrote several excellent books.
The Dictionary of National Biography described him as someone who collected everything. His house in Campden Hill Road in Notting Hill was full of books, pictures, clocks, china, silver, and many other interesting items.
Family
Andrew Tuer's wife was named Thomasine Louisa. They did not have any children.
Mrs. Tuer's godson was a historian named J. P. T. Bury. He wrote articles about Andrew Tuer for different book magazines.
Images for kids
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Luxurious Bathing, 1st edition
