Thomas Griffits, master lithographic printer, had a distinguished career at two of the leading colour printing firms in the first half of the 20th century - Vincent Brooks, Day & Sons Ltd. and the Baynard Press. He interpreted the works of some of the leading artists and illustrators of his time and taught several of them the skills of colour lithography. Willy Pogany, Edmund Dulac, John Piper, Barnett Freedmann and Edward Bawden all fell under his spell and Griffits' own books on lithographic printing, were key 'teach yourself' textbooks for many years. Griffits declared that lithography was the 'joy' of his life, a joy that he passed on to all those he worked with, and in turn, to the readers and collectors of the many fine books and prints he helped to produce.