The Kynoch Press


The Kynoch Press was an English-based fine press in Witton, Birmingham founded, in 1876 as a company press for Kynoch, a British manufacturer of ammunition. Initially, the press was used to print packaging. The press closed in 1981.

History

To manage publicity, the company set it up as a fine press, which, when Kynoch became Imperial Chemical Industries Limited in 1929, continued as a division and kept its name, The Kynoch Press. The Kynoch Press not only handled the firm's printing, but performed independent work, operating at times like a small press, and at other times like a fine press, and yet at other times like a private press.
From 1900 to 1921, H. Donald Hope brought the press recognition; and from 1922 to 1933, the press commissioned leading artists, including Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood. During this time, Herbert Simon :de:Herbert Simon|, who from 1919 to 1922 had worked for William Edwin Rudge, expanded on Hope's achievements, until 1933, when he moved-on to join his brother, Oliver Simon, OBE, at the Curwen Press. The following four years, from 1934 to 1938, were unfruitful under the leadership of H. V. Davis. Then, from 1938 to 1945, Michael Clapham oversaw the press during sparse years of World War II and managed to launch Endeavor, a quarterly scientific journal; then, from 1945 to 1958, John "Jock" Kennedy brought the press to the forefront of the industry by focusing on design; then, from 1959 to 1976, Wallis Heath was managing director and sought, through exporting and computer lithographic advances, to find a niche for the midsized publisher within the changing market; then, from 1976 to 1981, Harry Wainwright was managing director, but was directed to sell the press. In 1979, Wainwright found a suitable buyer, Gilmer and Dean, but the press closed in 1981 under the duress of a failed management buyout due in part to the union's unwillingness to accept any layoffs. The press closed in 1981.

Selected outside work


  1. The Doncaster St. Leger, by Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, and
  2. Melton in 1830 probably by Bernal Osborne