The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity from The Fleuron. No. 7

1929

Special Collections Z119 FL28

London: Printed for ‘The Fleuron’

In 1904, Count Harry Kessler, a life-long patron of Gill’s, asked him to design lettering for title pages in a series produced by Insel Verlag in Leipzig. Other commissions followed, like those from the Doves and Ashendene Presses. More importantly, Gill’s association with typographer Stanley Morison led to design work for the Monotype Corporation and the development of the Perpetua typeface. This issue of The Fleuron (1929) contains The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, marking the first appearance of Perpetua. Gill’s own defence is attached: ‘…in spite of many distinctive characters, it retains that commonplaceness and normality which is essential to a good book-type.’ One of Gill’s mistresses was Beatrice Warde, an American typographic expert. Her article ‘Eric Gill: Sculpture of Letters’, written under the name of ‘Paul Beaujon’, is also in this issue.