You may be familiar with the name Edward Johnston, of London Underground lettering fame (the above image set in P22 Foundry’s digitisation of the typeface).

This phrase is an English translation of a Latin plaque that summarises the ethos of an artisan community to which Johnston belonged in the early twentieth century.

In the early 1900s Johnston followed [Eric] Gill to the village of Ditchling where, with a group of other fellow craftsmen, they began a community of artists that eventually led to the formation of the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic. This organization focused on ideals of Catholicism, craftsmanship, cooperative living, and beauty in production — attracting a wide variety of artisans to Ditchling until the group’s disbandment in 1989.

Their little ethos sure does sound lovely — even though it turned out that Eric Gill was not the most angelic of souls after all.

Via a post on the MyFonts blog about Johnston and his writing desk.