The story of the Doves Press is truly fascinating. It existed for barely 16 years, yet it became a benchmark, contributing enormously to the Arts and Crafts movement. The true 'queen' of the press was its very own typeface, Doves Type, commissioned by its founder, Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson. However, after a bitter dispute over rights with his main partner, Cobden-Sanderson decided that no one would ever use it again, and he carried out his will in a very particular way: throwing all its pieces into the river…
Available information tells us that Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson founded Doves Press in 1900, and Emery Walker (photographer and printing professional) joined the company as a partner. Seven years earlier, Cobden-Sanderson had created his own bookbinding workshop, Doves Bindery, meaning he also bound everything he printed together with Walker.
However, this dynamic was not enough, and both decided to commission the design of a typeface (or 'font'), inspired by the Venetian Renaissance. The result was Doves Type, an exquisite creation that only existed in a 16-point size. The so-called Doves Bible of five volumes was for many their magnum opus, and the images floating around the web confirm it… but all that beauty ended up in the depths of the Thames.
(Editor's note: Automatic subtitles in English, but they can be followed)
Doves Type: The fury of its creator, and the 'rescue' of the fans
Between 1906 and 1908 (there is a difference of two years depending on the source) the partnership of Cobden-Sanderson and Walker broke completely. Apparently, Walker was professional and pragmatic, while Cobden-Sanderson was perfectionist and obsessive, verifying every sample that came out of his press. The conflict entered its legal phase in 1909, with both men disputing the rights to use Doves Type. The subsequent agreement established that those rights would be transferred to Emery Walker after Cobden-Sanderson's death, who was able to continue printing without Walker until 1916, the year Doves Press closed.
But before allowing that, Cobden-Sanderson decided to throw all the elements needed to reproduce Doves Type into the River Thames. 'Consecrated', according to his own words. Robert Green, probably one of the most important enthusiasts of this typeface, calculated that the entire typeface represented a ton of material, so Cobden-Sanderson, at 75 years old at the time, had to make more than 150 trips to get rid of it.
By studying personal diaries and other historical records, Green was able to identify the approximate location Cobden-Sanderson chose. In October 2014, a visit of barely twenty minutes allowed him to recover three of the type pieces, and after asking permission from the London Port authorities, the number rose to 151... out of a total of 500,000. The rediscovery of Doves Type allowed refining the digital clones that exist, and it became a very interesting 'treasure hunt' for local specialists.
Sources: Holly Black via ArtNet, TypeSpec.
