Dr Rob Banham
- Department Director of Teaching and Learning
- Examinations Officer
- Year Tutor for undergraduates in their third year of study
Areas of interest
Rob graduated in Typography & Graphic Communication in 2000, before completing a PhD on the work of Frederick Gye and Giles Balne, nineteenth-century letterpress printers. This brought together his three main research interests: the design of printed ephemera, the influence of technology on design, and the history of colour printing. Rob has a particular interest in using archives and collections in teaching and research. He also writes and speaks about contemporary design.
In addition to his teaching and research, Rob works as a freelance designer, specialising in designing books and journals. He edits and designs The Ephemerist (journal of the Ephemera Society), and from 2001–2010 was Chairman of the Friends of St Bride Library, who organise a highly successful programme of lectures and conferences on a wide variety of subjects related to design and printing.
Selected publications
- Gye and Balne: printing families', Journal of the Printing Historical Society, ns. 5 (2003) pp. 17–42
- 'Giles Balne', Baseline 42 (2003) pp. 25–32
- 'Pocket Penguins', Baseline 48 (2006) pp. 33–44
Publications
- Banham, R. (2020) Colour for commerce: letterpress-printed ephemera in Britain, 1740–1830. In: Savage, E. and Grasselli, M. (eds.) Colour Printing 1700-1830. Proceedings of the British Academy British Academy/Oxford University Press , London.
- Banham, R. (2019) Printing to 1970. In: Eliot, S. and Rose, J. (eds.) A Companion to the History of the Book. Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture Wiley-Blackwell ISBN: 9781119018179
- Banham, R. (2019) The industrialization of the book 1800–1970. In: Eliot, S. and Rose, J. (eds.) The New Blackwell Companion to the History of the Book. Wiley-Blackwell , New York. ISBN: 9781119018179
- Banham, R. (2014) 'The largest type in England': wood lettering for jobbing printing 1800–1830. In: Blume, J. , Pané-Farré, P. , Smeijers, F. (eds.) Vom Buch auf die Strasse: Grosse Schrift im öffenlichen Raum (Journal der HGB #3). Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst , Leipzig. pp. 27-40. ISBN: 9783932865862
- Banham, R. (2013) The work force. The history of Oxford University Press. Volume 2: 1780-1896. Oxford University Press , London. ISBN: 9780199543151
- Banham, R. (2012) Occasional publishers: producing and marketing books in England 1771–1844 . Journal of Historical Research In Marketing , 4 (3). pp. 408-439. ISSN: 1755-750X | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17557501211252961
- Banham, R. (2009) Lottery advertising 1800–1826. Journal of the Printing Historical Society (ns.11). pp. 17-60. ISSN: 0079-5321
- Banham, R. (2008) A handlist of films showing printing & typesetting. Self published (St Bride Library )
- Banham, R. and Ross, F. , eds. (2008) Non-Latin typefaces at St Bride Library, London and Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading. St Bride Library , London. pp 64. ISBN: 950416150
- Banham, R. (2008) Nineteenth-century jobbing: the printing methods of Gye and Balne. Journal of the Printing Historical Society , 11 (new se pp. 25-64.
- Banham, R. (2007) Trash type. Baseline , 52 pp. 16-21.