Can I still buy the Royal Edition of The Times?

The Royal Edition was a special version of The Times printed on heavier paper and sent to libraries and royal palaces. Unfortunately, the last issue was printed on December 31, 1969.

What's the connection between Times New Roman font and The Times?

The Times New Roman font was created for The Times in 1932 by Stanley Morrison and Victor Lardent. In the early 1990s, Times New Roman became the default font in Microsoft Word, which at least half a billion people use worldwide. It is now the most commonly used typeface in the world. Unfortunately, it’s future is not so secure. In 2006 it was replaced as the default font for Microsoft Word with a new sans serif font called Calibri.

Further reading (and listening) about Times New Roman:

Here is a 12 minute audio discussion about the origins of Times New Roman with font Guru Mike Parker.

Here is an epic discussion of the birth and impact of Times New Roman:

Here is an article about the State Department's decision to replace Courier with Times New Roman in 1994:

Here is an article about the end of the Microsoft Word era for Times New Roman:

What does the writing on The Times masthead mean?

The words on The Times masthead date from medieval France. Honi soit qui mal y pense is a motto from the Order of the Garter and means 'Shamed be he who thinks evil of it'. Dieu et mon droit means 'God and my right' and is the motto of the Royal Arms of Great Britain.

Why does The Times use the Royal Coat of Arms?

When John Walter first published the paper on January 1, 1785 (under the title Daily Universal Register) he used the royal coat of arms as an integral part of the masthead. The rationale for this was the fact that Printing House Square, the site from which the paper was published, had originally been the site of the King’s Printing House.

The King’s printers occupied the site from shortly before the Great Fire and did not leave it until 1770. A major fire destroyed part of the printing house in 1737 and in the subsequent re-building the royal coat of arms was integrated into the pediment of the new building. This was still there when John Walter began publishing his paper from that address in 1785. No doubt John Walter felt justified in using this coat of arms in his newspaper because of the site’s previous associations.

There was no patent or warrant for the use of such arms but a tradition of newspapers using the royal coat of arms had been established long before The Times took up the practice. The innovation was first used by The St. James’s Post in 1715 and by the time John Walter began publishing his paper in 1785 half the newspapers in London were emulating this practice.

In all essentials the coat of arms used by the Daily Universal Register (and later from 1788 by The Times) was that of George I, II, and III, covering the period 1714 to 1800. As these three Georges were also the electors of Hanover this was reflected in the symbolism of their coat of arms. John Walter’s decision to use the coat of arms inherited with the building from which he published his paper was therefore the basis for the historical association of The Times with the coat of arms of the Hanovarian Georges.

In 1801 the royal arms went through a significant change. The claim to France (which was represented by the inclusion of the Fleurs-de-Lis) was abandoned. The Times followed suit and from then until October 1, 1932 the royal coat of arms used by the paper was that of the reigning monarch (there were one or two idiosyncrasies such as the retention of the Victorian crown over the shield until that date). However the issue of The Times for October 3, 1932 while introducing the revolutionary Times New Roman typeface to the world also included a reference back to the very birth of the paper by reviving the coat of arms used on the first issue of The Times in 1788 and with it the return of the Fleurs-de-Lis.

This remained the situation until April 22, 1953. On the following day, April 23, 1953 the coat of arms of the reigning monarch returned to the masthead. This was done to commemorate the coronation of Elizabeth II and was viewed as a symbolic gesture to the new Elizabethan age.

Yet another change occurred on May 2, 1966 as part of the paper’s most radical change of format in its history. From that date news was printed regularly on the front page and as part of the overall re-design of the paper associated with this change the royal coat of arms was dropped altogether. It was re-instated on July 30 1981 to commemorate the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Up to 19 January 1982 the paper continued to use the royal coat of arms proper but from the issue of 20 January 1982 it reverted once more to the ‘out of date’ Hanovarian coat of arms. The reason being the approaching bi-centenary of the paper and the feeling that it would be more appropriate to use the original coat of arms from the period when the paper was founded. This continues to be the practice to the present time.

In 2006, the Coat of Arms used by The Times was redrawn by wood engraver Edwina Ellis.

Why does The Times use the clock device?

When the ban on parliamentary reporting was lifted at the end of the 18th century, those newspapers which sought to offer readers a full report of parliamentary proceedings were often handicapped by late sittings in the Commons. Publication of such newspapers, including The Times, would be delayed. Sales were lost as news vendors cancelled their orders if the papers arrived too late, especially if it meant that the distributors had to make two delivery rounds to get the late-running papers to the vendors. The History of The Times points out that "even when publication was punctual, there was always the risk that competing papers might persuade newsmen to offer a substitute on the fictitious grounds that The Times was not yet published." The newspapers concerned reacted to this abuse by including a "time of publication" statement alongside the date of each issue of the paper.

The first newspaper to use this tactic was the Oracle, founded by John Bell, and The Times followed suite. In The Times the actual publication time of each day's issue was printed in a regular statement first introduced into the paper on December 6, 1803: "Having received complaints from various quarters of the late delivery of The Times; in order to enable our readers to judge where the fault lies, we shall regularly insert the hour of publication. The Times was published this morning at ¼ past 9."

This statement of publication time continued with occasional omissions until November 23, 1869 when it was made redundant by improved printing machinery which made it possible to sustain a consistent finish time for printing the paper and by the capacity to produce late editions of the paper on a regular and reliable basis.

It was in this context that the clock device was introduced. It was first used in The Times on January 7, 1804 and, unlike the publication time statement, it was probably intended to provide an indication of the average time of publication of the paper. A clock might also represent accuracy, important for a newspaper of record which is how The Times regarded itself. The time depicted on the original clock was 6.07am and this was shown in Arabic numerals.

The overall design of the this device included the phrases "Times past - Times present - Times future" on open and closed books. The clock itself was placed between a sprig of oak leaves and a sprig of mistletoe. No record has survived which explains the purpose of the choice of these two pieces of foliage nor any explanation as to the symbolism involved. It has been suggested that the oak, with its characteristic of permanence could signify the past, the clock face the present, and the mistletoe the future. This would tie in with the role of a newspaper to report the past and to look to the future; the past being an open book, the future a closed one.

Alternatively the symbolism may refer to an early association between the oak and the mistletoe. In ancient times the mistletoe had strong symbolic significance for the Druids. They also held the oak tree in high esteem and only used mistletoe harvested from that particular tree. In winter the trees are without leaf and have the appearance of being without life. When the evergreen mistletoe grows on a leafless tree it signifies life restored and thus life in the future. Whatever the original symbolism, the oak and the mistletoe continues to be part of the clock device to this day.

The clock itself, however, has gone through a number of radical changes. On July 19, 1826 the time was changed to 6.05am and it remained at that time until September 27, 1845 when it was altered to 6.06am to reflect small changes in the average time of publication. In 1845 the numerals were also changed from Arabic to Roman and the clock face was housed in a box for the first time. A scythe was introduced, probably a reference to "Father Time".

For a time the clock device appeared on the back page before it settled with the theatre bills on an inside page. On February 7, 1911 it was promoted to the prestigious position of heading the leader page, the position it has occupied ever since.

When The Times introduced the Times New Roman typeface on October 3, 1932, the clock device was one of only two features from the old design of the newspaper to survive. The other was the Perpetua capitals, cut from a design by Eric Gill, which were used in the heading of the picture page. The case for the retention of the present clock device was made in a turnover article published on September 27, 1932 which stated that "from every point of view, traditional and actual, the Clock is the fittest device for The Times to place and keep in a conspicuous station."

The device was redesigned by the designer and engraver Reynolds Stone in 1949 at the invitation of the paper's typographical adviser, Stanley Morison. The aim was to create a more compact, modern design. Stone's principal changes were to the arrangement of the book and the oak and mistletoe which were thickened. The whole clock was housed in a box for the first time, however, the time on the clock remained unaltered. The new device made its first appearance in The Times on June 1, 1949. Reynolds Stone went on to engrave a new Royal Arms device for the Court Page, which first appeared on June 18, 1951, and a new Royal Arms device for the masthead which first appeared on April 23, 1953.

The time depicted on the clock remained at 6.06am until the radical re-design of the paper on May 3, 1966. From that issue news was placed permanently on the front page for the first time and a new device, designed by Alexander Campbell (Head of the Studio, 1965-1971) and derived from Reynolds Stone's design, was introduced. The hands of the clock were changed to depict 4.30am and the numerals were changed back to Arabic. According to the History of The Times, "throughout Fleet Street [4.30am] had come to be the average time of printing the last copy of the night's run". However, the time may instead refer to the latest agreed time for London morning papers to go to press with their final editions.

Campbell's version of the device continued in use until 1991, when on September 25 a new version made its first appearance. Its designer is not known. The box surrounding the clock was enlarged, while the book below it and the blade of the scythe were elongated and additional foliage was added. This version of the clock device remains in use above the newspaper's leading articles, a timeless symbol of a great newspaper.

How did The Times get its nickname of 'The Thunderer'?

The nickname, "The Thunderer", was established in 1830. London high society was in shock following the strange death of Lord Graves on February 7, 1830. He had been found dead in his room by his servants with his throat cut from ear to ear and with two razors beside the candle, but with no sign of a suicide note. The jury at the inquest, which was held the morning after the death and concluded within two hours, "without hesitation returned a verdict that the deceased...died by a wound inflicted by himself on his throat in a sudden fit of delirium." The Times immediately attacked both the verdict and the conduct of the inquest in a leading article published on February 9. The article, most probably written by Captain Edward Sterling, provoked a strong reaction. Following attacks from other newspapers and a letter from the Coroner which was published in The Times, another leading article, again most probably written by Sterling, was published in which he used the phrase "....we thundered out that article in Tuesday's paper which caused so great a sensation." This article, and the Coroner's letter, appeared in The Times on February 11, 1830.

The Morning Herald issues of February 15 and 17, 1830 conferred the name "The Thunderer" upon the newspaper by which it has been known since. The article of February 15, signed "P.P.P." and probably written by William Maginn, described The Times as "The Great Earwigger of the Nation, otherwise the Leading Journal of Europe, otherwise the Awful Monosyllable, otherwise The Thunderer - but more commonly called The Blunderer... "

The reference was picked up by other newspapers and journals and thus the nickname became established.

Thomas Barnes' leading article on the Reform Bill which included the exhortation "Unless the people everywhere come forward and petition, ay, thunder for reform, it is they who abandon an honest Minister - it is not the Minister who abandons them", which is frequently, though erroneously, cited as the origin of the nickname, was not published in The Times until January 29, 1831.

Was The Times the first ever ‘Times’?

The newspaper was originally called The Daily Universal Register. It was founded under this name by John Walter I on January 1, 1785. John Walter had bought the King’s Printing House in Printing House Square, Blackfriars, London, which had been vacant for twelve years, on March 25, 1784. The newspaper was launched as a method of advertising logography, the revolutionary new process by which it was printed. He initially got into printing as a bookseller in 1783 and became involved with logographic printing in the same year when he sold An Introduction to Logography written by Henry Johnson, the inventor of this process. It appears that Walter eventually acquired the sole rights to the patent for logographic printing on April 12, 1784. Logography was a method of printing with types or figures pre-cast in combinations forming either whole words or groups of letters: the usual method of typesetting is in single characters. The purpose of the logographic system was to speed up the process of composition of the pages as fewer pieces of type would have to be assembled to create a page. This theory never really worked in practice and the paper was only typeset in this fashion until 1792 when logography was abandoned as a method of printing newspapers.

The first issue under the current name was published on January 1, 1788 (issue number 940). At first it was known as The Times or The Daily Universal Register but this was quickly shortened to just The Times on May 18, 1788 (issue number 1,023). Despite the change of name The Times regards itself as having been founded in 1785 as there was no change of ownership, place of printing or edition numbering and accordingly celebrated its centenary and bicentenary in 1885 and 1985 respectively This unbroken run makes The Times the oldest surviving daily newspaper in the English language.

The reason for the change was stated at length in a article published on January 1, 1788. In essence the change was made because the original title was always being shortened to "The Register" and this was causing confusion with other newspapers or journals which included this word in their title. These included the Annual Register and Harris’ Register of Ladies. The Times was a unique title and, to cite the article, "being a monosyllable, bids defiance to corrupters and mutilaters of the language." Indeed, The Times was the first newspaper anywhere in the world to use the word "Times" in its title. All the other papers in Britain (including The Sunday Times) and across the world (including the New York Times and the Times of India), which use the word have followed this lead.