Professor Michael Twyman
- I am a retired full-time member of staff, having taught at Reading from 1959 for many years as the first Head of the Department.
- I now teach students on all four MA courses, and continue as the Director of the Department's Centre for Ephemera Studies.
- My responsibilities as Director of the Centre for Ephemera Studies include making material in the Rickards Collection available to students and others, working on collaborative ephemera projects, and liaising with external bodies in the field.
- I assist with the running of the departmental collections.
- I am Vice President of the Printing Historical Society, Chair of the National Printing Heritage Trust, Council member of the Ephemera Society, and Chair of the Advisory Committee of the St Bride Library in London.
Areas of interest
My research interests have ranged widely, and I have published papers and books on a variety of aspects of graphic language, letterforms, and the history of printing.
Teaching
My teaching focuses on collections of original material, both my own and items from the departmental collections, many of which I was responsible for acquiring. In addition, I respond to any enquiries that come my way from students, principally postgraduates.Research projects
The main focus of my present research is the history of lithography, a field that has resulted in many books and papers, the most recent being A history of chromolithography: printed colour for all (British Library, 2013). I am presently editing a manuscript record of the lithographic experiments of the geologist John Phillips.Publications
- Twyman, M. (2018) Giovanni Battista Belzoni’s portrait frontispiece in the various editions of his 'narrative of the operations and recent discoveries… in Egypt and Nubia’. Journal of the Printing Historical Society , 3 (29).
- Twyman, M. (2018) Charles Hullmandel’s stones at Kingston Lacy. Journal of the Printing Historical Society (28). pp. 23-74.
- Twyman, M. (2018) Hand-colouring or chromolithography: the pros and cons. Bourgery & Jacob (Dissection d’un atlas anatomique du XIXe siècle)
- Twyman, M. , eds. (2016) John Philips's lithographic notebook. Printing Historical Society , London. pp 104.
- Twyman, M. and Arbury, J. (2014) The plates of the Herefordshire Pomona. In: Graves Bull, H. and Hogg, R. , (eds.) The Herefordshire Pomona. , 2. The Folio Society , London. pp. xi-xvi. (containing figures and descriptions of the most esteemed kinds of apples and pears)
- Twyman, M. (2013) A history of chromolithography: printed colour for all. British Library , London. pp 728. ISBN: 9780712357104
- Twyman, M. (2010) Production: from chromolithography to photolithography. In: Edelstein, T. , (eds.) Art for all: British posters for transport. Yale Center for British Art Yale University Press pp. 43-65. ISBN: 9780300152975
- Twyman, M. (2009) La notion d'imprimés éphémères: comparaison des approches anglo-saxonnes et françaises. pp. 25-43.
- Twyman, M. (2009) The illustration revolution. In: McKitterick, D. , (eds.) The Cambridge history of the book in Britain. , VI: 1830-1. Cambridge University Press , Cambridge. pp. 117-143. ISBN: 9780521866248 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521866248.004
- Twyman, M. (2009) Printed ephemera. In: Suarez, M. and Turner, M. , (eds.) The Cambridge history of the book in Britain. , V: 1695-18. Cambridge University Press , Cambridge. pp. 66-82. ISBN: 9780521810173 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521810173.004
- Twyman, M. (2009) Lear and lithography. In: Nugent, C. , (eds.) Edward Lear the landscape artist: tours of Ireland and the English Lakes, 1835 & 1836. The Wordsworth Trust , Grasmere. pp. 11-29. ISBN: 9781905256389
- Twyman, M. (2008) The long-term significance of printed ephemera. RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage , 9 (1). pp. 19-57. ISSN: 2150-668X
- Twyman, M. (2007) L'imprimerie: histoire et techniques. ENS Éditions / Institut d’histoire du livre / Les amis du Musée de l’imprimerie , Lyon. pp 118. ISBN: 9782847881035
- Twyman, M. (2007) Images en couleurs: Godefroy Engelmann et Charles Hullmandel et les débuts de la chromolithographie. Panama Musées and Musée de l'imprimerie , Paris and Lyon. pp 128.
- Twyman, M. (2006) Review of J. Last, the color explosion: nineteenth-century American lithography. The Ephemerist , 10 pp. 19-24.
- Twyman, M. (2006) Barnett Freedman: master lithographer. In: Rogerson, I. , (eds.) Barnett Freedman the graphic art. Fleece Press , Huddersfield. pp. 192-226.
- Twyman, M. (2004) Prize labels and the 'Distribution solennelle des Prix'. The Ephemerist pp. 2-6.
- Twyman, M. (2004) Further thoughts on a schema for describing graphic language.
- May, A. and Twyman, M. (2004) Reconstructing a Senefelder pole press. Journal of the Printing Historical Society , 7 (new ser pp. 5-21.
- Twyman, M. (2003) Chromolithography: the European legacy. The Ephemera Journal , X pp. 2-23.