Rampant Lions started life as a
private press in 1924, when Will Carter was still a schoolboy. After the war, his interest in printing was such that he decided to try to establish the Press on a commercial footing, and did so in
Cambridge in 1949. From that date until the formal closure of the Press at the end of 2008, Rampant Lions has been among the most highly regarded letterpress printing-offices in Britain. The skills of Will and Sebastian Carter in design and press-work have been recognized by publishers, who commissioned work from them. Their skills have also been recognized by collectors, who have sought out their publications since the 1950s. Sebastian Carter also has an international reputation as a writer on type and typography and is the author of several books, including in 2013
The Rampant Lion Press: A Narrative Catalogue. Besides printing, Carter also designed two fonts for
Monotype, Klang and Octavian, the latter with
David Kindersley. He also designed signage and a font for
Dartmouth College, where he was artist-in-residence for a time. ==Legacy==