Biography
Ron Costley (b. Blackburn, Lancashire, UK 1939 - d. 2015) studied at Bromley School of Art. He became a typographer and started his career at the Shenval Press in Frith Street, London where he was mentored by James Shand (1905-1967). He stayed with Shenval even when they moved to Harlow in Essex in 1973 until it closed in 1979 and then he moved to Scolar Press, founded by Robert Alston. He met Ian Hamilton Finlay in 1960s and collaborated with him frequently, especially on Finlay's estate Little Sparta in Lanarkshire. In 1983 Costley joined the literary publisher Chatto & Windus in Covent Garden, London, redesigning their logo amongst other publications. In 1987 he moved to Faber & Faber as their chief designer and curated exhibitions of the historic book designs as well as advising the younger designers until he retired in 2005.