De Vinne, Theodore Low

De Vinne, Theodore Low (du vin'ē) [key], 1828–1914, American printer, b. Stamford, Conn. He learned his trade in the office of the Newburgh (N.Y.) Gazette and in 1848 entered the shop of Francis Hart in New York City. In 1858 he was made a junior partner, and after Hart's death in 1877 De Vinne became owner of the business. It continued as Theo. L. De Vinne & Company until 1908, when it was incorporated as the De Vinne Press. De Vinne became the best-known American printer of his day and did much by his writings and by his example of workmanship to advance the cause of good printing. He printed the Century Magazine and the Century Dictionary, both of them considered fine specimens of the art in that period. He also printed many of the Grolier Club books. He was a close student of types and did much to make American printers type conscious. De Vinne helped to bring reproduction and illustration processes to new standards of excellence. His numerous books include The Invention of Printing (1876), The Practice of Typography (4 vol., 1900–1904), and Notable Printers of Italy during the Fifteenth Century (1910).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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