A printer and early collector of both metal and wood type from the 19th century. From the 1920s through the 1980s he was an important figure in the preservation and transmission of this type and one of the most important participants in the 20th century revival of "antique" (19th century ornamental) types.
In his own printing he used rubber stamp making technologies for creating rubber copies of these types for use (to conserve the originals). These copies, although rubber, were of very high quality.
Some of his types were also re-issued for photocomposition and photolettering by Visual Graphics Corp. (Photo-Typositor) [and Compugraphic equipment - DOUBLECHECK THIS; it may be a misprint for Visual Graphics Corp. ]
Saxe {APHA 71 (1986)} lists him with ca. 400 fonts of metal and 100 fonts of wood type.
Collection to David Greer. William and David Greer, and later David Greer, have printed several specimen books highlighting Lyons' type. David Greer has put photographs of these online at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39182740@N04
Gowan, Al. T. J. Lyons: A Biography and Critical Essay. (Boston: The Society of Printers, 1987). [original print run still not sold out in 2012]
Preliminary Showing[:] Printing Types of Yore #1 (Boston, MA: T. J. Lyons Press, [no date, but printed when telephone exchanges were written out in full: "STADIUM 6510"])
Photographs of this specimen, by David Greer, are online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/39182740@N04/5563500275/in/set-72157626362570638.
Lyons, T. J. Typograph: A Compilation of Nineteenth Century Type Faces, Borders and Ornaments . (Boston: T. J. Lyons, 1958). 70 loose sheets.
T. J. Lyons Antique Type Collection [Vol. 1]: Twenty Typefaces Selected from the Distinguished Type Library of the T. J. Lyons Press of Boston, Massachusetts. Faithfully Reproduced on Film by Visual Graphics Corporation for Use on the Photo Typositor. (North Miami, FL: Visual Graphics Corp., 1967). [n.b. designed by Bill Commerford]
T. J. Lyons Antique Type Collection, Vol. 2] Twenty Selected Typefaces from the Distinguished T. J. Lyons Antique Type Collection, which are Reproduced on Film for Use on the Photo Typositor, Volume II. (North Miami, FL: Visual Graphics Corp., n.d. [but 1968]).
T. J. Lyons Antique Type Collection, Vol. 3] Antique Type Samples: Twenty Selected Typefaces from the Distinguished T. J. Lyons Antique Type Collection Reproduced on Film by Visual Graphics Corporation for Use on the Photo Typositor, Volume III. (North Miami, FL: Visual Graphics Corp., n.d. [but 1968]).
Greer, David F., ed. The Woodtype Collection of T. J. Lyons (Ridgefield, CT: David F. Greer, 1984).
Greer's Specimen No. 3.
Greer, David F., ed. Wood Border of the T. J. Lyons Collection. (Ridgefield, CT: David F. Greer, 1985).
Greer's Specimen No. 3, supplement.
Lent, John L. "An American Collection of Old-Fashioned Type." Share Your Knowledge Review. Vol. 27, No. 8 (April, 1946): 24. This appeared originally in the journal Printing.
Lent. SYK Review. (1946)
Lent, John L. "An American Collection of Old-Fashioned Type." Share Your Knowledge Review. Vol. 27, No. 8 (April, 1946): 24. Reprinted from the journal Printing.
Scanned from the original. The icon here links to a PDF assmbled from a 2048 pixel wide JPEG reduced-size version. It is reasonably small and quite suitable for reading. Here is the original 600dpi RGB scan as a lossless PNG image (31 Megabytes): share-your-knowledge-review-v27n08-1946-04-0600rgb-lyons-collection.png
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