# Rampant Lions Press

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British letterpress firm

Rampant Lions Press Industry Letterpress printing Founded 1924; 102 years ago (1924) Founder Will Carter Defunct 2008 (2008) Headquarters Cambridge, England Key people Sebastian Carter

The **Rampant Lions Press** was a fine [letterpress](/source/Letterpress) [printing](/source/Printing) firm in Britain, operating from 1924 to 2008. The firm was founded by Will Carter (24 September 1912 – 17 March 2001), publishing its first book in 1936, and was continued by his son, Sebastian Carter (b. 1941), from 1966.[1][2][3]

## History

Rampant Lions started life as a [private press](/source/Private_press) in 1924, when Will Carter was still a schoolboy. After the war, his interest in printing was such that he decided to try to establish the Press on a commercial footing, and did so in [Cambridge](/source/Cambridge) in 1949. From that date until the formal closure of the Press at the end of 2008, Rampant Lions has been among the most highly regarded letterpress printing-offices in Britain. The skills of Will and Sebastian Carter in design and press-work have been recognized by publishers, who commissioned work from them. Their skills have also been recognized by collectors, who have sought out their publications since the 1950s. Sebastian Carter also has an international reputation as a writer on type and typography and is the author of several books,[4] including in 2013 *The Rampant Lion Press: A Narrative Catalogue*.[5]

Besides printing, Carter also designed two fonts for [Monotype](/source/Monotype_Imaging), Klang and Octavian, the latter with [David Kindersley](/source/David_Kindersley).[6][7] He also designed signage and a font for [Dartmouth College](/source/Dartmouth_College), where he was artist-in-residence for a time.[8]

## Legacy

At the [Fitzwilliam Museum](/source/Fitzwilliam_Museum) from 18 March to 18 May 2014, the exhibition *The Rampant Lions Press: A Letterpress Odyssey* took place, featuring books published since 1982, when the press had been the subject of a retrospective exhibition there,[9] celebrating *A Printing Workshop Through Five Decades*.[10] The retrospective *Will Carter: Man of Letters* took place at the Lettering Arts Centre, [Snape Maltings](/source/Snape_Maltings), [Suffolk](/source/Suffolk), in April 2022,[11] and subsequently at the Robert Cripps Gallery, [Magdalene College, Cambridge](/source/Magdalene_College%2C_Cambridge).[12]

## Further reading

- Carter, Sebastian, et al. *The Rampant Lions Press: a printing workshop through five decades* (Rampant Lions, Cambridge, 1982). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-902591-12-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-902591-12-6) (paperback), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-902591-11-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-902591-11-8) (cased).

- Carter, Sebastian, "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning: Closing the Rampant Lions Press Workshop", in *Parenthesis*; 19 (Autumn 2010), pp. 9–11.

- Carter, Sebastian, [*The Rampant Lion Press: A Narrative Catalogue*](https://www.oakknoll.com/pages/books/114713/sebastian-carter/rampant-lions-press-a-narrative-catalogue-the), New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 2013 (208 pages). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781584563211](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781584563211)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Some_observations_of_a_small_printer_1-0)** Carter, Will (Summer 1954). ["Some observations of a small printer"](http://www.metaltype.co.uk/downloads/mr/mr_40_2.pdf) (PDF). *Monotype Recorder*. **40** (2): 9–24. Retrieved 19 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Will_Carter_obituary_2-0)** Rogers, Timothy (22 March 2001). ["Will Carter obituary"](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/mar/22/guardianobituaries). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 17 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [History](http://www.rampantlionspress.com/History.html), The Rampant Lions Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Sebastian Carter"](https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL331778A/Sebastian_Carter). *Open Library*. Internet Archive.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Randle, John. ["Men of Letters – Bibliography"](https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/men-of-letters-2/). *[TLS](/source/The_Times_Literary_Supplement)*. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Klang_MT_6-0)** ["Klang MT"](http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/klang/). *MyFonts*. Retrieved 17 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Octavian_MT_7-0)** ["Octavian MT"](http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/octavian/). *MyFonts*. Retrieved 17 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Exhibition: Will Carter and the Dartmouth Typeface – The story of the development of the letterforms that became known as the Dartmouth typeface"](https://news.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=50768#.XKm__1VKjIU). Dartmouth College, 21 March 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["The Rampant Lions Press: A Letterpress Odyssey"](https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/calendar/whatson/rampant-lions-press-letterpress-odyssey). Cambridge: The Fitzwilliam Museum. 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Will Carter Retrospective"](https://www.letteringartstrust.org.uk/events/will-carter-retrospective). The Lettering Arts Trust. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Bignell, Eric (29 April 2022). ["The Lettering Arts Trust presents – Will Carter: Man of Letters"](https://www.stonespecialist.com/news/events/lettering-arts-trust-presents-will-carter-man-letters). *Stone Specialist*. Retrieved 26 December 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Will Carter - Man of Letters"](https://www.letteringartstrust.org.uk/events/will-carter-man-of-letters?rq=Will%20Carter). *The Lettering Arts Trust*. Retrieved 26 December 2023.

## External links

- [Rampant Lions Press website](http://www.rampantlionspress.com) (including a catalogue of books in print)

- Nicolas Barket, [Obituary of Will Carter](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/will-carter-728942.html)[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*], *The Independent*, 20 March 2001.

- ["Will Carter"](http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-26317.html), Luc Devroye.

- [Finding Aid for the Rampant Lions Press Collection 1961–2001](https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt329033gf/), The Online Archive of California.

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF National United States Israel Other Yale LUX

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