Charles Whittingham

Charles Whittingham (1795–1876) was an English printer, a nephew of Charles Whittingham (1767–1840) who took over the Chiswick Press from his uncle.

Life Whittingham was born at Mitcham, Surrey, on 30 October 1795; his father Samuel Whittingham', brother of the elder Charles, was a nurseryman. Known as "the nephew", he was apprenticed at the age of fifteen to his uncle, who had paid for his education under the Rev. John Evans of Islington. He was made a freeman of the Company of Stationers in 1817, and the following year his uncle sent him to Paris with letters of introduction to the Didots. One result of the visit was the production on his return of Whittingham's French Classics by the Chiswick Press; a series of Pocket Novels was also issued under his supervision. In 1824 his uncle took him into partnership, then dissolved in 1828, and the younger Whittingham started a printing office at 21 Took's Court, Chancery Lane. Through Basil Montagu he came to know William Pickering, the bookseller, who was to be a lifelong friend and associate.

On the death of his uncle in 1840 the Chiswick Press business passed into the hands of the younger Whittingham. He carried on the works at Chiswick as well as at Took's Court until 1848, and the books printed at both places bore the imprint of Chiswick Press. In 1848 he became a liveryman of the Company of Stationers. The lease at Took's Court expired in 1849, and for three years all his printing was carried on at Chiswick. In 1852 he returned to the premises at Took's Court. he was a partner in the Chiswick Press from January 1872 to August 1876. Charlotte and Elizabeth trained as artists, and worked on borders, monograms, head and tail pieces, and other embellishments. The engraver of most of the ornamental wood-blocks was Mary Byfield (died 1871).