(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

John Bianchi

Italy, 1874 - 1957

BiographyThe Merrymount Press was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1896 by Daniel Berkeley Updike (1860-1941). The Press, which operated for 45 years, was known for its excellence in typography and design, especially in the field of decorative printing and bookmaking. In 1893, Updike established himself as an independent printing designer, but it took several years to acquire type, and only in 1896 did he name his business the "Merrymount Press." The Press completed a variety of printing jobs including small jobs like bookplates, letterhead, invitations, and cards; institutional and commercial work including school catalogs, diplomas, and advertising booklets; trade publications for publishers; privately printed books; and limited editions, including two of the Press's most well-known works, the Altar Book (1896) and the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer (1930). Updike and the Press worked with a variety of suppliers, publishing houses, craftsmen, and artists, including illustrators T. M. Cleland, W. A. Dwiggins, and Rudolph Ruzicka.
Italian immigrant John Bianchi (1874-1957) was integral to the Press, first as its foreman and later, in 1915, as Updike's partner. It was Bianchi who managed the financial aspects of the company and was responsible for doing the Press's estimates. Following Updike's death in 1941, Bianchi ran the business until early 1949.
From https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8j96csq/admin/ accessed 6/24/19 M Phelps

https://www.bostonathenaeum.org/library/book-recommendations/athenaeum-authors/daniel-berkeley-updike accessed 24 June 2019 MP

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

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