Futility Closet

In March 1913, Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson threw the most beautiful typeface in the world off of London's Hammersmith Bridge to keep it out of the hands of his estranged printing partner. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll explore what would lead a man to destroy the culmination of his life's work -- and what led one modern admirer to try to revive it. We'll also scrutinize a housekeeper and puzzle over a slumped child. Intro: Gustav Mahler rejected the Berlin Royal Opera because of the shape of his nose. In 1883, inventor Robert Heath enumerated the virtues of glowing hats. Sources for our feature on the Doves Press: Marianne Tidcombe, The Doves Press, 2002. The Journals of Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, 1926. "The Doves Press" -- A Kelmscott Revival," New York Times, Feb. 16, 1901, BR9. "The Revival of Printing as an Art," New York Tribune, Sept. 14, 1901, 11. "The Doves Press Bible," Guardian, March 10, 1904. "The Doves Press," Athenaeum, Jan. 12, 1907, 54-54. "The Doves Press