Call Number:

C0665

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 21 boxes
• 8.8 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); P. J. Conkwright Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1936-1985 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Conkwright, P. J. (P. Jefferson)

Form:

Correspondence. and Files.

Abstract:

Designer and Typographer, P.J. Conkwright worked at the Princeton University Press from 1939 to 1970. His collection includes biographical material, correspondence, calendars, and other printed material about the Princeton University Press.

P. J. Conkwright came to the Princeton University Press in 1939 from the University of Oklahoma, from which he had received a masters degree and at whose press he had worked as a book designer. In the following decades, his work as a typographer and book designer became nationally known, particularly in the annual exhibitions of the best fifty books produced in the U.S. held by the American Institute of Graphic Art. Many of the books he designed were honored there, and in 1955 the AIGA awarded him its gold medal. Perhaps the best known work credited to his skills is the multi-volume set of the Jefferson papers, which the Press began issuing in 1950.

The collection consists of Conkwright biographical material, correspondence (1939-1985), appointment calendars, files regarding some of the books he designed and printed, and other material, most of it related to his work at the Princeton University Press.