Happy Birthday, Mr. Tuer

 Image: Andrew W. Tuer, Old London Street Cries (1885)
Courtesy Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, San Francisco Public Library

 
Andrew White Tuer, one of the bright lights of Victorian England, was a publisher of antique-inspired imprints. Born on Christmas Eve, 1838, in the north of England, he was schooled for the religious life, which didn't take; he then moved to London and medical school, which didn't take either. Instead, experiments in printing laid the fruitful groundwork for a life in publishing. In 1862, Tuer and his partner opened the prolific and renowned Field & Tuer, where they produced illustrated books reminiscent of eighteenth-century chapbooks under the imprint Ye Leadenhall Presse. Tuer was passionate about popular culture of that time; his books often used seemingly crude but charming wood engravings by Joseph Crawhall (1821-1896), another north countryman who is remembered today for his hand-colored and comic woodcuts.

Andrew Tuer is less-readily remembered. When he is, it's usually for his History of the Horn Book (1868) or Bartolozzi and His Works (1881), but the curious reader might be interested to know that Tuer was also an inventor ("Stickphast" glue, among other inventions specific to the book trades) and a collector of clocks, prints, children's books, and lottery advertisements. His compilation Quads for Authors, Printers & Devils  (1884) provided a bellyful of trade-specific jokes, lending to his everlasting fame in printing circles.

Andrew Tuer died at the age of sixty-one on February 24, 1900. In reporting his death, the London Times noted that his most popular work, Old London Street Cries and Cries of Today "is now in its 76th thousand" printing. A "widely known and versatile man." Indeed! 

Many of Andrew Tuer's books may be found at the San Francisco Public Library. In the online catalog, search by author (Tuer, Andrew White) or publisher (Field & Tuer; Leadenhall Press). While you're exploring the library, check in at the Magazines & Newspaper Center, where you'll find the complete London Times from its inception, plus the full index to the newspaper.

Image: Quads for Authors, Editors, & Devils edited by Andrew W. Tuer (1884)

Courtesy Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, SFPL

Read more about Andrew White Tuer:

J. P.T. Bury, "A.W. Tuer and the Leadenhall Press," The Book Collector 36, no. 2 (Summer 1987), 225-243.

A.F. Johnson, "Old-face Types in the Victorian Age,"  The Monotype Recorder 30, no. 242 (1931), 5-14.