THE OLD SCHOOL PRESS

Recorded voices from the world of printing:

Vivian Ridler, Printer to the University of Oxford
 
 
2003
In this conversation recorded in January 2003, Martyn Ould talks to Vivian Ridler, who was Printer to the University Press, Oxford from 1958 to 1978, having joined as Assistant Printer to Charles Batey in 1948. The conversation was recorded at his home in Oxford during my research for Stanley Morison & 'John Fell'. Our conversation was principally therefore around the production of Morison's John Fell, the University press and the 'Fell types.

We would like to thank the Ridler family for permission to include these recordings in our archive. The photo of Ridler above was taken in 1967 (copyright OUP).

 
 
 
Part 1. Morison's approach to the John Fell book, and his religion. Harry Carter at the Press.  (12:12)
Part 2. The process from drafting through to printing John Fell. (14:19)
Part 3. Financing John Fell. The Fell Fascicules. Printing John Fell. (A kettle is boiled for tea towards the end.) (12:37)
Part 4. The conversation starts about Brook Crutchley, Printer to Cambridge University. Morison's visits to the Press. key figures of early twentieth-century printing (the Simons, Meynell, etc). Oxford Printers Hall, Batey, and Johnson. (6:42)
     
 
 
Copyright © Martyn Ould 2007.