(b Providence, RI, 1860; d Boston, MA, 1941). American typographer, printer and graphic designer. He was advertising manager and layout artist at the publishing house of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. before transferring to the firm’s printing works at the Riverside Press, where he worked until 1892. Updike’s first freelance commission, the design of a Book of Common Prayer (1892), was well received, and in 1893 he set up his own studio, initially with the idea of designing types but then as a printing press, the Merrymount Press. He commissioned a new type called Merrymount from Bertram Goodhue for use on a new Episcopalian Altar Book (Boston, 1896). Between 1893 and 1896 Updike produced c. 18 books before turning to printing them himself, assisted by John Bianchi ( fl 1893–1947), his first typesetter and later his partner. The Merrymount Press undertook a wide range of work for publishers, book clubs, libraries, churches and institutions. In 1896 Updike purchased the Caslon face for use at the press; in 1904 Herbert Horne designed Montallegro for him; other types employed included Scotch Roman, Janson, Mountjoye and Oxford; Updike was the first American to use Times New Roman. In 1899 the Merrymount was firmly established by a commission to print Edith Wharton’s novels for the publisher Charles Scribner & Sons; however, much of Updike’s work was for the private collectors’ market and limited-editions clubs. His finest work is thought to be the Book of Common Prayer (Boston, 1930), financed by J. Pierpont Morgan and begun in 1928, for which he employed Janson type. His Printing Types was first published by Harvard University Press in 1922 and was based on lectures that he had given at the University (1911–16). At his own estimate Updike produced c. 14,000 pieces of printing.

• Updike, Daniel Berkeley
  • Arts and Crafts Movement, §4: USA