Salt Spring Island Archives
Portrait of Edward Johnston
born 11. 2. 1872 in San José, Uruguay,
died 26. 11. 1944 in Ditchling, England
1898 was an important year for this young man, who went on to world-wide fame. For 15 years thereafter he taught at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, in the newly created lettering department - he also taught at the Royal College of Art in London. In 1906 he published his book "Writing and Illuminating and Lettering", which is still, in the 21st century, considered the most influential book on calligraphy ever written.
(source Encyclopedia Brittanica, and the Edward Johnston Foundation)
"Nobody had such a lasting effect on the revival of contemporary writing as Edward Johnston. He paved the way for all lettering artists of the twentieth century and ultimately they owe their success to him."
Master calligrapher and font designer Hermann Zapf, Honorary President of the Edward Johnston Foundation
His researches were carried out with the understanding of the artist-craftsman, the scientist and the philosopher and this three-fold approach resulted in a profound insight - he fully grasped the root of formal writing and saw how all the branches grew from that root.
"That modern calligraphy ever rose like a phoenix from the ashes of a forgotten craft was largely due to Edward Johnston. It is to his perception of fundamentals that formal penmanship owes its life and continuing tradition today."
Heather Child
Edward Johnston 1902
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Accession number: 1-EJ-Camp-Distant
Original Accession number: EJ Camp (Distant) (B_4A22AD
Accession number: 2-EJ-Camp-Photo-1
Original Accession number: EJ Camp Cook (B-W) Photo 1
Edward Johnston (left) and his cousin Neil MacInnis at their camp on Salt Spring Island
Accession number: 3-EJ-Camp-Photo-2
Original Accession number: EJ Camp Cook (B-W) Photo 2
Accession number: 4-EJ-Camp-Log-carrying
Original Accession number: EJ Camp Log-carrying (B-W)
At Vesuvius Bay (abt. 10 am) we landed & got into various ‘rigs’ wh. took us a pretty but very wet forest drive of half an hour or so to the Post Office.
The Post Office has been great fun. Mr. Wilson arranged for Aunt Isa to go there and we found that the ‘Postmaster’ (a young man - very kind hearted & ‘happy-go-lucky’ - whom we call ‘Joel’, and never think of as the ‘Postmaster’ at all) had a spare room wh. N. & I could have. This plan worked admirably as we made a jolly party together, and, as Aunt Isa hadn’t been able to get a servant, we fell to work, as to the manner born, & pumped water & ran the stove and cooked and washed-up in great style. Aunt Isa & H. had each a room and there was a sitting room & dining room: the latter was the Telephone Exchange room! Just think of a little district with about a dozen houses in it, in a little Island, like this, having a telephone system! There was a great excitement whenever the bell rang and after sundry mistakes & interruptions of conversations I learnt how to work the switches - the installation was a second-hand one & set up by amateurs in the happy-go-lucky way of the people of this island.
There are four bells on, and one of these has three people on it, so that there are 6 houses & the Central on the system. They are now putting up a wire to another place abt. 9 miles off; the longest distance at present is 3 miles. When Pascal had meals with us he ran the Central most energetically and with great éclat. One evening I shewed Aunt Isa how to work it and she switched people on and had a talk with Pascal but I accidentally left a plug in a wrong hole and so deranged the ‘system’ for the rest of the evening. Joel thought it a great joke & of course nobody minded, at any rate they didn’t understand.
Accession number: 5-EJ-Camp-PO
Original Accession number: EJ Camp PO (B-W) Photo
Accession number: 6-EJ-Camp-Washing-up
Original Accession number: EJ Camp Washing up P#4A2303
