Former type Ltd. Founded June 1933 Headquarters Southwark, London | Industry Type foundry Defunct 1984 | |
Stevens, Shanks & Sons Ltd. was an English type foundry formed in 1933 by the merger of the Figgins Foundry with P. M. Shanks (Patent Type Foundry) to form Stevens, Shanks. Sometime after 1971 the foundry ceased operations and all materials (including Figgins' punches and matrices) went to St. Bride's Printing Library.
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Figgins Foundry
Vincent Figgins was an apprentice at Jackson's Foundry, but unable to purchase that foundry at Jackson's death. He therefore started his own firm in 1792. The term sans-serif was first employed in 1830 by the Figgins foundry. The founder's great grandson, Richard Herbert Stevens, arranged the merger with Shanks.
Patent Type Foundry
The foundry was started 1855 by John Huffam King. It was sold 1857 and renamed Patent Type-Founding Company. The foundry purchased a Johnson automatic typecasting machine in 1873. Known as P.M. Shanks & Co. from 1881 and finally as P.M. Shanks and Sons, Ltd. until its merger with Stevens.
Typefaces
These foundry types were produced by Stevens, Shanks: