Douglas Crawford McMurtrie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Douglas Crawford McMurtrie
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| Born | 20 July 1888  |
| Died | 29 September 1944 (aged 56) |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Graphic designer, bibliographer |
Douglas Crawford McMurtrie (born July 20, 1888 – died September 29, 1944) was an American expert in many fields. He designed typefaces, created graphics, and studied the history of printing. He also wrote many books and articles about printing.
Contents
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Douglas McMurtrie was born in Belmar, New Jersey. He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but he left before finishing his degree. After college, he worked in different jobs. He was a newspaper reporter, a statistician (someone who works with numbers), and a designer. He also helped people buy and sell printing services.
His design work soon got noticed by Ingalls Kimball, a well-known printer. Kimball made McMurtrie the general manager of the Cheltenham Press. Later, McMurtrie managed printing for other famous places. These included the Columbia University Printing Office and the Condé Nast Press.
Designing Type and Magazines
During this time, McMurtrie became very involved in design. He created two new typefaces, which are like different styles of letters for printing. He also helped design how New Yorker magazine looked.
He played a big part in starting the Continental Type Founders Association. This group brought typefaces from Europe to America. McMurtrie was the first vice-president of this company. He also brought some European typefaces, like Cochin and Didot, to the U.S. on his own. From 1925 to 1926, he took over from Frederic Goudy as the editor of a respected magazine called Ars Typographica.
Later Work in Printing
After working on his own for a while, McMurtrie moved to Chicago. There, he worked for the Cuneo Press as a typographic director. This meant he was in charge of how printed materials looked.
Later, he joined the Ludlow Typograph Company. He became their director of advertising and typography. While at Ludlow, he designed one typeface. But his main job was writing advertisements. He stayed in this role for the rest of his life. Throughout his career, he updated the look of over one hundred newspapers.
Studying Printing History
McMurtrie was also a serious scholar. He studied how printing developed in North America. He focused on the first printing presses and newspapers. He also researched the printing done by early settlers.
At Ludlow, McMurtrie had a lot of time for his research. This led to many important books. One of his famous works was A History of Printing in the United States. He also wrote The Book: the Story of Printing & Bookmaking. Both books were highly praised.
Because he was so good at studying printing history, McMurtrie got a special job. He led the American Imprints Inventory (AII) for the Works Progress Administration. This was a government project during the Great Depression. The AII's goal was to find and record all books, pamphlets, and posters printed in the U.S. before 1876. This huge project resulted in 35 publications. It also led to over fifteen million documents being stored at the Library of Congress.
Helping People with Disabilities
McMurtrie cared a lot about helping people with disabilities. In 1912, he became the editor of the American Journal of Care for Cripples. From 1915 to 1919, he was president of the Federation of Associations for Cripples.
He was especially concerned about soldiers who were disabled after World War I. He helped set up places where these soldiers could get help and recover. He also worked with the Red Cross Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men.
Personal Life
Douglas McMurtrie was a large man with a friendly personality. He married Adele Kohler in 1915. They had three children together. He passed away suddenly from a heart attack in Evanston, Illinois, in 1944. He was 55 years old.
Typefaces Designed by McMurtrie
Douglas McMurtrie designed or helped design several typefaces, which are specific styles of letters used in printing.
- McMurtrie Tile (1922, Continental) – This typeface only had capital letters. It was based on an old Dutch design from the 1700s.
- Vanity Fair Tile (1923, privately made for Condé Nast Press) – This also had only capital letters and was based on the same old Dutch design.
- Ultra-Modern series
- Ultra-Modern Roman (1928, Ludlow) – He designed this with Aaron Borad and Leslie Sprunger.
- Ultra-Modern bold (1930, Ludlow)
- Ultra-Modern Medium Italic (1930, Ludlow)
Books Written by McMurtrie
McMurtrie wrote many books about printing and its history.
- The History of Typefounding in the United States, 1925.
- Alphabets; a Manual of Letter Design. 1926.
- The Golden Book; the story of fine books and bookmaking 1927.
- Type Design, 1927.
- The Fichet Letter: the earliest document ascribing to Gutenberg the invention of printing, 1927.
- Modern Typography & Layout, 1929.
- Active-age Typography, 1930.
- Concerning Quotations, 1934.
- A History of Printing in the United States: The Story of the Introduction of the Press and of Its History and Influence during the Pioneer Period in Each State of the Union,, with Albert H. Allen, 1936.
- The Book: the Story of Printing & Bookmaking, 1943.
Selected Articles by McMurtrie
He also wrote many articles for different historical journals.
- McMurtrie, Douglas C.(1931). “Pioneer Printing in Texas.” Southwestern historical quarterly 35.3: 173–193.
- McMurtrie, Douglas C. (1933) “The First Printers of Illinois.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 26.3 (1933): 202–221.
- McMurtrie, Douglas C. “A Bibliography of South Carolina Imprints, 1731-1740.” South Carolina historical and genealogical magazine 34.3 (1933): 117–137.
- McMurtrie, Douglas C.(1936). “The Need of a Printer in Indiana Territory.” Indiana magazine of history 32.1 (1936): 34–37.
- McMurtrie, Douglas C.(1940). “A Coast-to-Coast Search for Early American Printing.” ALA Bulletin 34.8: 460–485.
- McMurtrie, Douglas C. (1944) "The Beginnings of Printing in Florida." Florida Historical Quarterly. 63-96.
Addresses Given by McMurtrie
He also gave speeches, often about printing history.
- McMurtrie, Douglass C. (1937). "The contribution of the pioneer printers to Illinois history; the address to the Illinois day meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society at Springfield, on December 3, 1937." Illinois State Historical Society.
