Alastair Johnston went looking for Richard Austin and found that there were two of him: a father and son of the same name who were part of the graphic revolution that transformed printing and publishing in Regency-era Britain.
This explosion of printed matter and a concomitant demand for illustrated books and periodicals was coupled with increased literacy and much improvement in the quality of printing. British books, for the first time, were at the forefront of the world's publishing.
Richard Austin, Sr. cut type now known as Bell, Fry's Ornamented, Scotch Roman, plus the revolutionary Porson Greek of Cambridge University. His son produced wood-engravings that adorned books printed from New York to Edinburgh.
Alastair Johnston has assembled a checklist of 116 books (and counting) illustrated by Austin, Jr. This research will be published by the British Library next year.
And as usual, we can expect an engaging, lively and scholarly talk from Johnston.
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