The Composing Room
“The Composing Room” offers a complete listing of the articles written by Alexander S. Lawson for his monthly “Composing Room” column appearing in the pages of the Inland Printer and its subsequent incarnations. Lawson wrote the “Composing Room” column beginning in March of 1954 assuming its authorship from Ward K. Schori. He wrote over 150 articles until he relinquished the position in September of 1966 to pursue an opportunity which led to the publication of his first book, A Printer’s Almanac. His student & coauthor Dwight Agner took over the column. In addition to this column Lawson also contributed other articles to the Inland Printer as well as reviving the “Typographic Scoreboard,” both of which always immediately follow the “Composing Room”.
| DATE | TITLE |
|---|---|
| 1954, 03 March (i) | Introducing a New Editor |
| 1954, 03 March (ii) | Return to Old Type Faces In Vogue in National Ads |
| 1954, 04 April | Renewed Flow of Type Faces Meets Mixed Emotions |
| 1954, 05 May | Little Material Available for Typographic Library |
| 1954, 06 June | Guest editor Paul Fisher offers "History of Type Readability Studies Discloses No 'Perfect' Type Face" |
| 1954, 07 July | High Quality Reproduction Proofs Now Offered by Successful Printers to Their Customers |
| 1954, 08 August | Letterspacing Capital and Lower Case Letters in Hand Composition Involves Problems |
| 1954, 09 September | Lack of Uniform Names Brings Confused Typographic Terminology |
| 1954, 10 October | Are Compositors Losing Their Craft Standing? |
| 1954, 11 November | How You Can Help Build Craftsmanship Standards |
| 1954, 12 December | Here's a Check List for Composing Room Efficiency |
| 1955, 01 January | What Photosetting Has Done to Composing Room |
| 1955, 02 February | Quality Control Badly Needed in Composing Rooms |
| 1955, 03 March | Fine Spacing Is Prerequisite to Good Typography |
| 1955, 04 April | Making the Printed Page More Legible and Readable |
| 1955, 05 May | Many Methods Available to Achieve Good Spacing |
| 1955, 06 June | Phototypesetting: Printing's Postwar Phenomenon |
| 1955, 07 July | Type Specimen Book Will Help Printer's Customers |
| 1955, 08 August | Type Specimen Book Should Meet Customers' Needs |
| 1955, 09 September | Specimen Book Must Be Organized for Customer |
| 1955, 10 October | Typographers Have Field Day With New Designs |
| 1955, 11 November | Scripts and Cursives Widen Typographic Horizons |
| 1955, 12 December | Books on Type and Typography for Compositors |
| 1956, 01 January | Europeans Have Precision Composing Room Devices |
| 1956, 02 February | What Type Faces Would You Buy for Printing Plant? |
| 1956, 03 March | Poor Organization Cause of Low-Level Production |
| 1956, 04 04 April | "Case for Cheltenham" Revived in Type Face Vogue |
| 1956, 05 May | Trends in Phototypesetting Provide New Problems |
| 1956, 06 June | Electronics and Camera Combine in Cold Typesetting |
| 1956, 07 July | Bruce Rogers Among Greatest of American Printers |
| 1956, 08 August | Decorative Letters of Past Century Inspire Revival |
| 1956, 09 September | Information Dissemination Goal of Printers' Groups |
| 1956, 10 October | Printer's Furniture Now Is Made of Newer Materials |
| 1956, 11 November | What's the Best Road to a Graphic Arts Education? |
| 1956, 12 December | Selection of Type Faces Offers Wide Possibilities |
| 1957, 01 January | Outside Factors May Limit Choice of Type Selection |
| 1957, 02 February | Easy to Select Type When You Understand Grouping |
| 1957, 03 March | U.S. and European Point Systems Confuse Printers |
| 1957, 04 April | Printing Measurement Standards Had Long Struggle |
| 1957, 05 May | Few Technological Changes in Quoins in 400 Years |
| 1957, 06 June | Many of Goudy's Type Designs Still In Daily Use |
| 1957, 07 July | Gadgets Have Not Topped Hand Tying Type Forms |
| 1957, 08 August | Black Letter Has Developed from Gutenberg's Time |
| 1957, 09 September | How Type Face Classifications May Be Standardized |
| 1957, 10 October | Technical Developments Will Affect Small Printer |
| 1957, 11 November | 'What Type Faces Go Together?' Perennial Problem |
| 1957, 12 December | European Manufacturers Show New Frame Designs |
| 1958, 01 January | Advertising Typography Promotes Revival of Gothics |
| 1958, 02 February | Compositor's Valuable Tool Has Colorful History |
| 1958, 03 March | An Attempt to End Type Classification Controversy |
| 1958, 04 April | Type Specialists Change Compositor's Vocabulary |
| 1958, 05 May | Typography Has Seen Many Changes In 75 Years |
| 1958, 06 June | Are Printers Losing Control In Selection Of Type? |
| 1958, 07 July | Typesetting Contests Produced High-Speed Records |
| 1958, 08 August | Greater Precision Needed in Preparing Press Forms |
| 1958, 09 September | William Addison Dwiggins Influenced Typographers |
| 1958, 10 October | Protecting New Type Face Designs Is Old Problem |
| 1958, 11 November | Sans Serif Types Enjoying Widespread Popularity |
| 1958, 12 December | Modern Sans Serif Types Are Printers' Workhorses |
| 1959, 01 January | Growing Trend To Revival Of Baskerville Type Faces |
| 1959, 02 February | Phototypesetting Equipment Still Puzzles Printers |
| 1959, 03 March | Type Face Designed by Goudy Released by Monotype |
| 1959, 04 April | Moxon's Printing Guide of 1683 Reprinted by Oxford |
| 1959, 05 May | Type-Paper Relationship Is Factor in Good Design |
| 1959, 06 June | Who Does What in Field of Typography and Makeup |
| 1959, 07 July | Today's Compositor Less Concerned With Esthetics |
| 1959, 08 August | Naming Type Faces In an Art With a Rich History |
| 1959, 09 September | What Is Meant By Legible, Readable Type Faces? |
| 1959, 10 October | Scientific Studies Attempt to Determine Legibility |
| 1959, 11 November | Frantic Type Face Fads Change Quickly and Often |
| 1959, 12 December | Lots of Good Typography, But Not on Calendars |
| 1960, 01 January | D.B. Updike Set Standard of Great Craftsmanship |
| 1960, 02 February | New German System Classifies Types Numerically |
| 1960, 03 March | What Type Classification Should and Should Not Do |
| 1960, 04 April | Here Is Proposed System for Classifying Type Faces |
| 1960, 05 May | What is Best Way for Comps. to Distribute Type? |
| 1960, 06 June | Jenson Set Style That Has Lasted Five Centuries |
| 1960, 07 July | Hermann Zapf, Major Contemporary Type Designer |
| 1960, 08 August | Gothic Type Faces in Ascendancy for Display Use |
| 1960, 09 September | Composing Rooms Must Face Need for New Methods |
| 1960, 10 October | New Typographic Group to Be Under Way in 1961 |
| 1960, 11 November | Shadow Design Type Faces Are Making Comeback |
| 1960, 12 December | What the Composing Room Was Like 100 Years Ago |
| 1961, 01 January | Two Were Mentors to 19th Century Typographers |
| 1961, 02 February | Can Young Comps. Hope to Become Typographers? |
| 1961, 03 March | Will Process Lettering Replace Type? |
| 1961, 04 April | Europeans Are Revolutionizing Compositors' Work |
| 1961, 05 May | Why Not Start a Pastime Press? |
| 1961, 06 June | Here Are Some Pointers For Hobby Printers |
| 1961, 07 July | Case History of a Famous Type—Oxford |
| 1961, 08 August | Were Rules of Typography Made to Be Broken? |
| 1961, 09 September | Typography Treated in Four New Books |
| 1961, 10 October | Morris Fuller Benton Deserves More Than Obscurity |
| 1961, 11 November | What Has Happened to Printshop Poetry? |
| 1961, 12 December | Typographic Point System Is Not Yet Scientific |
| 1962, 01 January | There's a Difference Between Ligature and Logotype |
| 1962, 02 February | He Created "The Noblest Roman Of Them All" |
| 1962, 03 March | The Printer's Widow—Source of Typographic Controversy |
| 1962, 04 April | Theodore De Vinne—America's Forgotton Compositor |
| 1962, 05 May | Univers Type Face . . . A New Concept in Typography |
| 1962, 06 June | Phototypesetting—Its Economic Implications For Printing |
| 1962, 07 July | A Review of Phototypesetting Machines |
| 1962, 08 August | A Look at Two Electronic Phototypesetters |
| 1962, 09 September | Phototypesetters May Pose Problems for Printers |
| 1962, 10 October | Typographic Trends Are Often Short-Lived |
| 1962, 11 November | Typographic Nomenclature Is Becoming Confusing |
| 1962, 12 December | Proof Quality Is Taking On New Importance |
| 1963, 01 January | Pulling Proofs Is Not a Job for The Errand Boy |
| 1963, 02 February | It May Be a Passing Fad or A Revival—But Cooper Is Back |
| 1963, 03 March | Printers Should Take Closer Look at Conversion Methods |
| 1963, 04 April | Modernization Has a Place in the Composing Room |
| 1963, 05 May | Modern Typesetting Forces Comps to Learn New Procedures |
| 1963, 06 June | Typographic Encyclopedia Provides Basis for Argument |
| 1963, 07 July | July 17 Is 60th Anniversary for Goudy's Village Press |
| 1963, 08 August | Computers Will Be a Major Factor in Tomorrow's Typesetting |
| 1963, 09 September | Installations Prove Advantages Of Computerized Typesetting |
| 1963, 10 October | Gothic Revival Is Achieving Landslide Proportions |
| 1963, 11 November | Type Founders Are Keeping Pace With Demand for Modern Gothics |
| 1963, 12 December | How Hot-Metal Pasteup Speeds Up Newspaper Ad Makeup |
| 1964, 01 January | How Phonetic Spelling Will Affect Typography |
| 1964, 02 February | Take a Close Look at Your Composing Room Floor Plan |
| 1964, 03 March | Young Typographers Are Going Back to Design of "Roaring Twenties" |
| 1964, 04 April | Distinction Between Upper and Lower Case May Disappear in the Future |
| 1964, 05 May | Americans May Be Falling Behind In Type Design |
| 1964, 06 June | Computers Could Lead To New Standards of Typesetting |
| 1964, 07 July | Book Types Losing Ground To "Market-Place" Faces |
| 1964, 08 August | Some Postwar Roman Faces Rank With Classic Revivals |
| 1964, 09 September | Modern Inventions Have Not Made Compositor a 'Dead Duck' |
| 1964, 10 October | 1964 Is Vintage Year For Books On Typography |
| 1964, 11 November | The "Tramp Printer" Is Gone Forever |
| 1964, 12 December | New Phototypesetters Are Big Step Toward Automated Typesetting |
| 1965, 01 January | After 70 Years Century Typefaces Hold Their Own |
| 1965, 02 February | Printers To Observe Goudy Centenary March 8 |
| 1965, 03 March | Goudy Typefaces Are Still Available |
| 1965, 04 April | 'Rugged' Typefaces Are Latest Revival |
| 1965, 05 May | Printers Still Argue Computer's Implications for Typesetting |
| 1965, 06 June | It's Time to Re-examine Some Composing Room Procedures |
| 1965, 07 July | The Great American Typographers Who Will Take Their Places? |
| 1965, 08 August | Advances in Typesetting Are Getting Confusing |
| 1965, 09 September | AIGA's Fifty Books Exhibition Observing 42nd Anniversary |
| 1965, 10 October | Fifty Books Exhibition—Since 1923 A Barometer of Book Type Use |
| 1965, 11 November | Fifty Books Exhibition—Since 1923 A Barometer of Book Type Use (2) |
| 1965, 12 December | Compositors Must Learn to Live With Computers |
| 1966, 01 January | Growth of Trade Typesetting Outstrips Rest of Industry |
| 1966, 02 February | Bookman—Latest Revival for Display Typography |
| 1966, 03 March | Survey Reveals Book Type Preferences |
| 1966, 04 April | Hunt Roman: A Private Type By Hermann Zapf |
| 1966, 05 May | Advertising Typography Is Still Growing |
| 1966, 06 June | A Personal Reminiscence of J.L. Frazier |
| 1966, 07 July | 'Horizontal Stacking' Is Latest Typographic Fad |
| 1966, 08 August | Typomundus 20: Impressive But Disappointing |
| 1966, 09 September | Dwight Agner takes the helm of the “Composing Room” column beginning with his article “Technology and Type Design” |