Back to the classroom: the Central Saint Martins Museum & Study Collection and Central Lettering Record

Abstract

The Central Lettering Record at Central Saint Martins is a teaching collection begun at the Central School of Arts & Crafts in the 1960s but which draws much from a longer tradition of collecting ‘teaching examples’ at the school begun by its founding Principal W.R. Lethaby. The article describes the origin of the collection, and the role of key figures in its development: Nicholas Biddulph, Nicolete Gray, James Mosley and Alan Bartram, and the breadth of its holdings. It offers some reflection on the relevance and use of such a collection in today's Higher Education climate.

Keywords:

• Lettering
• typography
• collections
• ‘object learning’
• graphic design
• education

Notes

1. Biddulph, “The Central Lettering Record,” 7.

2. Kindel, “The Central Lettering Record,” 21.

3. Gray, “Lettering in Coventry Cathedral,” 33–41.

4. Nicholas Biddulph et al. “The Central Lettering Record,” folded-handout, n.d.

5. Pearse, “The Central Lettering Record,” 13.

6. It should be noted that originally this national collection was to be built up in collaboration with the University of Reading.

7. Pearse, “The Central Lettering Record,” 14.

8. Baines and Dixon, “Letters of Reference,” 50–53.

9. Kindel, Typeform Dialogues, 3–48.

10. Baines, “Sculptured Letters and Public Poetry,” 38–49.

11. Baines and Dixon, “Letter Rich Lisbon,” 52–61.