Daniel Berkeley Updike

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1860, Daniel Berkeley Updike became one of the most respected American printers of his time. Reliable reference sources describe him as a printer and historian of typography, and note that he began his publishing career in Boston with Houghton, Mifflin & Company before going on to build his own reputation.

Updike founded the Merrymount Press in Boston in the 1890s, where he became known for elegant, carefully made books and a belief in doing ordinary work exceptionally well. His writings on printing and type history, especially Printing Types: Their History, Forms, and Use, helped preserve and explain the traditions of fine typography for later readers, designers, and printers.

He died in 1941, but his influence lasted far beyond his lifetime. He is still remembered as a key figure in American printing: a practical craftsman, a thoughtful scholar, and someone who treated the design of books as both useful work and an art.