Stratford Press (Cincinnati)
| Company type | Private press |
|---|---|
| Industry | Printing, Publishing |
| Founded | 1913 in Worcester, Massachusetts |
| Founder | Thomas F. Johnson, Elmer Frank Gleason |
| Defunct | 1914 (commercial enterprise) |
| Fate | Bankruptcy declared by Gleason in 1914; resumed as private press circa 1920 in Cincinnati |
| Headquarters | Cincinnati , United States |
Area served | Libraries, literary societies, educational institutions, benefactors, artists, collectors, supporters, acquaintances |
Key people | Elmer Frank Gleason (operator) |
| Products | Non-commercial publications, hand-crafted books |
The Stratford Press based in Cincinnati was the private press operated by Elmer Frank Gleason (1882–1965), who meticulously crafted non-commercial publications intended for libraries, literary societies, educational institutions, benefactors, artists, collectors, supporters, and acquaintances.
History
Originally established as a commercial enterprise in 1913 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Stratford Press was co-founded by Thomas F. Johnson (born 1880) and Elmer Frank Gleason with the aim of producing "premium commercial and society printing." However, Gleason declared bankruptcy in 1914.
Following this unsuccessful business attempt, Gleason resumed creating books privately around 1920 in Cincinnati under the Stratford Press label as a personal pursuit aligned with the Arts and Crafts movement and the private press movement prevalent throughout Britain, Europe, and America. Celebrated for his craftsmanship in book design and hand-binding, Gleason personally printed and assembled his works. His publications earned esteem within literary, artistic, and historical communities for their exceptional design and meaningful content. An illustrative work is the booklet Clara Chipman Newton: a memorial tribute, published on November 1, 1938, in Cincinnati.
Selected acclaim
In 1965, James Lamar Weygand authored Elmer F. Gleason and the Stratford Press: A History & Bibliography, describing Stratford Press as "among the most important private presses of the Midwestern United States." He emphasized Gleason’s nearly five decades of impact on typographic standards both locally within the Ohio Valley region and across the nation.
Selected works
- Clara Chipman Newton: A Memorial Tribute (limited edition booklet; privately circulated)Committee members: Florence Murdoch (maiden; 1887–1977) (chair); Eunice Resor (née Eunice Swift Thoms; 1871–1960); Susan Galbraith (née Susan Clark Neff; 1877–1970); Emma Mendenhall (1873–1964); Elizabeth Kellogg (née Elizabeth Rockey Kellogg; 1870–1967)Designed, printed, and bound by hand at Gleason’s residence in Cincinnati under Stratford Press; co-published with Cincinnati Woman's Club and The Loring Andrews Company; released November 1, 1938.
Elmer Frank Gleason
Elmer Frank Gleason served as head of layout and design at McDonald Printing Company located in Cincinnati.
The name, Stratford (disambiguation)
Stratford-upon-Avon is famously recognized as Shakespeare’s birthplace. Additionally, Stratford denotes a metropolitan area within the London Borough of Newham, Greater London. The designation "Stratford" is shared by various publishing entities including:
(i) The Stratford Press Company of Cleveland, initiated by William Joseph Raddatz (1880–1940) in 1911 and dissolved in 1925; (ii) The Stratford Company, Publishers, based in Boston from around 1915, known for issuing The Stratford Journal ("an international magazine") between Autumn 1916 and early 1920; and (iii) American Book-Stratford Press, Inc., established by Louis Satenstein (1882–1964) in New York City originally as the American Book Bindery Company.