Blue Pencil no. 48—One Hundred Books Famous in Typography, Part 4 [The Age of Reason] nos. 20–35

Note: When I began this dissection it was intended as a single post—even as it grew much longer than expected. However, I was forced to break it up into smaller chunks when I ran into an unexplained “failure error” when trying to save the draft one day. Rather than try to break up the dissection into equally sized posts based on word counts, I decided instead to make separate posts based on the divisions used in the Grolier Club exhibition for the one hundred books entries; and on divisions in the catalogue for the material that was not part of the exhibition (e.g. foreword, introduction, Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography, bibliography, etc.). Note that the divisions used in the exhibition itself (e.g. “The Golden Age” or Looking Back”) were abandoned for the catalogue.

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The Age of Reason
pp. 70–71
20. Phillippe [sic] Grandjean (1666–1714) et al
Description et Perfection des Arts et Metiers, des Arts Construire les Caractères
Paris: André Jammes, 1961. Folio.
Provenance: The Grolier Club.

• Text is c.532 words
• “Phillippe” should be “Philippe”
• Full and correct title should be: La reforme de la typographie royale sous Louis XIV: Le Grandjean; étude accompagnée de CX cuivres originaux conservés à l’Imprimerie Nationale.
• The correct imprint is: Paris: Librairie Paul Jammes, 1961.
• The author is André Jammes.

“These designs [created by the Bignon Commission] were engraved onto copperplates [sic] by Louis Simonneau. The plates still exist at the Imprimerie Nationale; they were carefully reprinted in the late twentieth century under the direction of André Jammes for the portfolio exhibited here.” p. 70

“Grandjean devoted all his time to the cutting of the romain du roi from 1694 to 1702, yet it took decades longer, and two other punchcutters (Jean Alexandre, followed by Louis Luce), to complete (in 1745) the 82 fonts of roman and italic which comprise the entire series of 21 sizes.” p. 70

Given the key role that Simonneau (1654–1727) played in the development of the romain du roi he should have been included in the header. More importantly, Kelly has skimmed over notable aspects of the development of the romain du roi prior to—and even after—Grandjean’s cutting of the first punches. He has left out the dates of its stages, the fact that various grids were attempted, the application of the constructivist approach to italic letters (Lettres Capitales Penchées and Lettres Courantes Penchées), the role of a second engraver Pierre de Rochefort, and the name of the first book to be printed in the new type. For a quick but thorough visual overview of the development of the romain du roi (with comparisons between the various engraved model letters and the actual types) see the slide lecture “Romain du Roi: Surviving Plates” by Riccardo Olocco (12 December 2013).

The first book printed with the romain du roi was the quarto size edition of Medailles sur les principaux evenements du regne de Louis le Grand: avec des explications historiques by the Académie des inscriptions & belles-lettres (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1702). Since only a few sizes of the new type were ready at the time the book was in production, the title page includes Granjon’s Roman titling on Two-line Pica [R 6.9] (1567) and Peter II Schoeffer’s Roman titling on Two-line English [R 8.3] (1517)—see Kelly’s digital rendition p. 269. The latter was also used as initial letters in the text. The 1702 folio edition of Medailles was printed entirely in the new romain du roi.

There is a manuscript by Jacques Jaugeon (1704) titled Description et perfection des arts et métiers, des arts de construire les caractères, de graver les poinçons de lettres, de fondre les lettres, d’imprimer les lettres et de relier les livres in the Bibliothèque Nationale (MSS Français 9157-8). For the plates engraved by Louis Simmoneau scroll to p. 333 in the downloadable PDF.

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to the romain du roi. One suggestion would be Romain BP by Ian Party (2007) that has since been revised, combined with SangBleu (a sans serif), and renamed SangBleu OG Serif.

Further Reading p. 316
“Académisme et Typographie: The Making of the Romain du Roi” by André Jammes in Journal of the Printing Historical Society vol. I (London: Printing Historical Society, 1965); and Printing for Kingdom, Empire, and Republic: Treasures from the Archives of the Imprimerie Nationale edited by H. George Fletcher (New York: The Grolier Club, 2011).
• Suggested readings: La réforme de la typographie royale sous Louis XIV, le Grandjean by André Jammes (Paris: Librairie Paul Jammes, 1961) and Le Romain du Roi: la typographie au service de l’état, 1702–2002 by James Mosley (Lyon: Musée de l’imprimerie de Lyon, 2002)

Illustrations
Parts of two plates: detail of Plate X (A B C D E F) showing C and D, Plate XXVII (i j k l m n o p q with accents for i and o) showing m and n. (The exhibition displayed Plate XX (N O P Q R S).
• Kelly should have also showed lowercase ascender letters and italics since they provide evidence of how the Bignon Commission extended their rationalist concept beyond the construction of capital letters.

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pp. 72–73
21. Martin Dominique Fertel (1684–1752)
La Science Pratique de l’Imprimerie
Saint Omer [France]: Published by the author, 1723. Quarto.
[There is no provenance given. The online exhibition says the lender is Jerry Kelly.]

• The “Epitre” of La Science Pratique de l’Imprimerie is set in Granjon’s celebrated Double Pica (Gros-parangon) Italic [It 140] (1571) which was the model for Matthew Carter’s ITC Galliard Italic. The main text is set in a roman that shares some features with Garamont’s Paragon (Petit-parangon) Roman [R 128] (1557), but there are numerous inconsistencies (e.g. a single page of the “Preface” has different versions of f, g, u, &; and wrong fonts for ç and ê) that make it difficult for me to confidently identify it.

• Text is c.294 words
• There are no links, but there should be ones to nos. 19, 37, and 39.
• The Grolier Club owns a copy which is lacking two plates.

Who was Dominique Martin Fertel? Kelly does not say. The title page of Fertel’s manual indicates that he was a printer and bookseller. Whatever else is known about Fertel is to be found in the two articles listed below by Giles Barber which I have not yet read.

“[La Science Pratique de l’Imprimerie] is also the first [printer’s manual] to show model designs for title pages, complicated two-column setting and annotations; even detailed instruction on the composition of footnotes and marginal notes… [and] valuable information about the setting of poetry, broadsides, government pronouncements, and other assorted book and ephemeral typography.” p. 72

Given this impressive range of contents, it is disappointing that Kelly chose to reproduce the title page of the manual rather than an interior page or spread. Robin Kinross says of the rustic Fertel that, “He also provides a striking contrast with the metropolitan Moxon. Though both wrote manuals of practice, addressed to fellow printers and to apprentices, where Moxon emphasized materials and ‘handy-works’, Fertel’s book is notable for its stress on the organization of the text (it is largely concerned with book printing). With Fertel there appeared for the first time a conscious concern with the structuring of verbal information through the devices of typography: size and style of type, headings, subordinated text, space, ornaments, symbols.” (Modern Typography: An Essay in Critical History by Robin Kinross (London: Hyphen Press, 1992), p. 18)

Further Reading p. 316
The Printer’s Manual: An Illustrated History by David Pankow (Rochester, New York: RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press, 2005).
• Suggested reading: “Martin-Dominique Fertel and his Science pratique de l’imprimerie, 1723“ by Giles Barber in The Library vol. s6-VIII, no. 1 (March 1986), pp. 1–17; or “Un imprimeur-typographe explique son art: Martin Dominique Fertel et sa Science pratique de l’imprimerie” by Giles Barber in Livre et Lumières dans les Pays-Bas Français, de la Contre-Réforme à la Révolution edited by Frédéric Barbier and Philippe Guignet (Valenciennes, France: Cercle Archéologique et Historique de Valenciennes, 1987), pp. 151–162.

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to Fertel’s book and there is no good reason for one to be.

Illustration
Title page. (The exhibition displayed pp. 136–137.)
• The title page shown is from the 1741 edition (which is actually rarer than the 1723 edition). The correct title page is reproduced below.
• An interior page or spread would have been more illuminating. Two suggestions are p. 12 showing the  “Casse Superieure” and the “Casseau Inferieure”; or p. 129 showing how to lay out an inventory of goods.

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pp. 74–75
22. [Vatican Printing Office]
Andrea Brogiotti. Indice de Caratteri… nella Stampa Vaticana
Rome: Stampa Vaticana, 1628. Octavo.
Provenance: American Type Founders Company Library & Museum at Columbia University.

• Set in a mixture of types. I have only tried to identify a few of them. On the first page of the dedication the author’s name is set in Granjon’s Paragon (Petit-parangon) Italic [It 130] (1554) and the roman for the text looks like Du Boys’ Paragon (Petit-parangon) Roman [R 128] (1547). The text of “Al Lettore” is set in Granjon’s English-sized (Saint-augustin) Italic couché [It 93] (1563). The large type on f. 28r titled “Carattere detto Canon grosso” might be Constantin’s Two-line Double Pica (Gros-canon) Roman [R 280] (1530). The type on f. 31r titled “Carattere detto Ascendonica” is Granjon’s famous Double Pica (Gros-parangon) Roman [R140] (1570). The text on the page headed “Carattere detto Corsiuo grosso” is set in Granjon’s Paragon (Petit-parangon) Italic [It 130] (1554). (See Vervliet 2010, pp. 328, 203, 313, 220, 206, and 328).

• Text is c.210 words
• Full title: Indice de Caratteri con l’Inuentori e Nomi di Essi Esisenti nella Stampa Vaticana e Camerale
• The online exhibition: “Provenance: The American Type Founders (ATF) library; later Columbia University Rare Books [sic] and Manuscripts [sic] Library”. However, CLIO does not list the book as part of the former ATF Library so the provenance should simply be Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
• There is a link to no. 33, but there should also be links to nos. 14, 15, 16, 18, 30A, and 97.

“Some classic French types by Garamond [sic] and Granjon… made their way to the Vatican printing office in Rome, showing how widely distributed the work of those punchcutters was.” p. 74

Some, though certainly not all, of the French types Kelly is referring to are identified above.

“…[the Vatican printing office] amassed an impressive inventory of exotic fonts for typesetting in myriad languages, in addition to Latin and Greek alphabets…” p. 74

Further Reading p. 317
The Type Specimen of the Vatican Press, 1628 edited by H.D.L. Vervliet (Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger & Co., 1967).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to the Officina Vaticana and there is no good reason for one to be.

Illustration
Page headed “Alphabetum Latinorum” (f. 27r) overlapping the title page.
• A better image would have been one of the non-Latin types in the specimen such as the “Abraham” (f. 10r) or, as a comparison to Le Bé’s Hebrew (no. 18), the “Hebraeorvm Litterae” (f. 60r).

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pp. 76–77
23. John Baskerville (1706–1775)
Virgil / Bucolica, Georgica et Aeneis
Birmingham: John Baskerville, 1757. Quarto.
[There is no provenance given. The online exhibition says the lender is Jerry Kelly.]

• The main text is set in Great Primer Roman and Great Primer Italic types designed by John Baskerville and cut by John Handy. His Two-line Double Pica and Two-line Small Pica titling faces also appear in the book. The Great Primer Roman was the first type that Baskerville and Handy completed. The first specimen of Baskerville’s types was published in 1754 while the Virgil was still in gestation.

• Text is c.490 words
• There is a link to no. 20. There should also be links to nos. 6, 16, 26, 29, 30, 31, and 35.

“He [John Baskerville] developed wove paper with a more regular surface than the laid sheets in common use at the time, and he had that paper pressed between hot plates to further smooth the sheets, all in an effort to show his types to best advantage.” p. 76

Wove paper was developed by the elder James Whatman (1702–1759) at Baskerville’s request. According to Marieka Kaye, Conservation Librarian and Book Conservator at the University of Michigan Library, the 1757 Virgil is actually made up of both laid and wove paper. (See The Whatmans and Wove Paper: Its Invention and Development in the West: Research Into the Origins of Wove Paper and of Genuine Loom-woven Wire-cloth by John Noel Balston (West Farleigh, Kent [England]: J.N. Balston, 1998)

“His [Baskerville’s] fonts take their cue from the rationalized letterforms of the romain du roi (no. 20), but freed from the directives of a scientific committee, and with the his experience as a calligrapher.” p. 76

Baskerville’s youthful experience as a writing master was more influential than the romain du roi in determining the form of his types, as were the types of William Caslon, then the most popular in England. Regarding the latter, Baskerville wrote, “Mr. Caslon is an Artist, to whom the Republic of Learning has great obligations; his ingenuity has left a fairer copy for my emulation, than any other master. In his great variety of Characters I intend not to follow him; the Roman and Italic are all I have hitherto attempted; if in these he has left room for improvement, it is probably more owing to that variety that divided his attention than to any other cause. I honour his merit, and only wish to derive some small share of reputation from an Art which proves accidentally to have been the object of our mutual pursuit.” (Paradise Lost. A Poem in Twelve Books. The Author John Milton. From the Text of Thomas Newton D.D. (London: J. and R. Tonson, 1758), Preface.) With the exception of the Q, the capitals of the “French Cannon” alphabet (1715) of the writing master George Shelley (c.1666–c.1736) anticipate those of Baskerville by several decades. (See Alphabets in All the Hands… by George Shelley (London: c.1715), n.p.) Baskerville’s lowercase letters in both his roman and italic types appear to be perfected versions of the “Roman Print” and “Italick Print” shown by writing master and engraver George Bickham (1684–1758) in his influential The Universal Penman (London: 1741).

“…Bulmer (whose types were cut by William Martin, brother of Robert Martin who cut Baskerville’s types)…” p. 76

Robert Martin was Baskerville’s pressman, not his punchcutter. Straus and Dent write, “For the actual cutting of the punches he [Baskerville] was fortunate in otaining an artist, John Handy, who worked well with him; and with Handy to help him, days, months, years passed before a single fount was completed.” (See John Baskerville: A Memoir by Ralph Straus and Robert K. Dent (London: Chatto and Windus, 1907), p. 16.)

Further Reading p. 317
John Baskerville: A Memoir by Ralph Straus and Robert K. Dent (London: Chatto and Windus, 1907).
• Suggested reading—John Baskerville: Art and Industry in the Enlightenment edited by Caroline archer Parré and Malcolm Dick (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2017).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
p. 286—Baskerville Roman / John Baskerville c.1764 / Interpreted by Tony Stan / ITC / See no. 23
p. 287—Baskerville Italic / John Baskerville c.1764 / Interpreted by Stanley Morison / Monotype / See no. 23

Illustration
Aeneidos Liber Primus [p. 104].
• Kelly has chosen the opening page of the Aeneid, a beautiful example of Baskerville’s types, design, and printing. Amusingly, it is the point at which the 1757 Virgil becomes horribly misnumbered. Baskerville assigns p. 105 to a verso and p. 106 to a recto and continues the mistaken pagination until p. 233 where he finally returns to the traditional method of assigning odd numbers to rectos and even numbers to versos.

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pp. 78–79
24*. [Jean Jannon (1580–1658)]
Imprimerie Nationale Catalogue
Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1968. Two volumes. Quarto.
[There is no provenance given. The online exhibition says the lender is Jerry Kelly.]

• Text is c.420 words
• The correct title of this book is Catalogue: Garamont. Grandjean. Jaugeon. Luce. Caractères romains (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1968). Its companion volume is Catalogue: Garamont. Grandjean. Jaugeon. Luce. Caractères italiques (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1968). (Didier Barrière of the Atelier du Livre d’Art et de l’Estampe, Bibliothèque de l’Imprimerie Nationale provided me with the identification of this book based on the Jannon illustration in an email October 13, 2021: “Elle se trouve dans un spécimen qui était surtout à usage interne et qui pu être diffusé seulement à de ra rares clients de l’Imprimerie nationale.” He says the edition was limited to 300 copies.)
• The book has no identified author or editor according to Barrière.
• Barrière says that, “Comme tous les spécimens des caractères exclusifs de l’Imprimerie nationale, celui-ci a été composé avec les caractères en plomb, issus des matrices et des poinçons de l’établissement.”
• The Grolier Club has a copy of The 1621 Specimen of Jean Jannon: Paris & Sedan, Designer & Engraver of the Caractères de l’Université Now Owned by the Imprimerie Nationale, Paris edited in facsimile, with an introduction by Paul Beaujon [pseudonym of Beatrice Warde] (Paris: H. Champion, 1927). Why was that not included in the exhibition instead of this 1968 book?
• There is a link to no. 56—but it is a bit spurious. The reference is ostensibly to the groundbreaking article “The ‘Garamond’ Types” by Paul Beaujon [Beatrice Warde] in The Fleuron 5 (1926). But the text accompanying no. 56 (The Fleuron) makes no mention of Warde’s article. There should be links to nos. 16, 55, 82, and 84.
• “Simonici Garamond” should be “Simoncini Garamond”
• “definitve” should be “definitive”

“Poor Jean Jannon. Or should we say poor Claude Garamond? We can feel sympathy for Jannon since some exceptional roman and italic typefaces which he cut have long been credited to Claude Garamond. On the other hand, Garamond’s superlative romans and italics, produced almost a century before Jannon’s, are not as widespread as Jannon’s work which bears his name. Therefore, Garamond may be most well know for types which he did not cut, and which are several steps removed from his elegant type designs, it is a bit confusing….” p. 78

“There are yet more ironies and erroneous attributions in this saga. For one thing, several of the more accurate re-creations of Garamond’s types, such as George W. Jones’ Granjon and Jan Tschichold’s Sabon, are not named Garamond, while close copies of Jannon’s work, such as [Frederic W.] Goudy’s Monotype Garamont and Simonici [sic] Garamond, are named named Garamond.” p. 78

“Despite [Beatrice] Warde’s definitive research of the 1920s, International Typeface Corporation’s type named Garamond, designed by Tony Stan in the 1980s, is derived solely from Jannon, with little trace of Claude Garamond’s work. However, Robert Slimbach’s Garamond designs, made  a few years later for Adobe, are faithful reproductions of the true Garamond types.” p. 78

“…we include this [1968] catalogue here as a showing of the original versions of Jannon’s influential roman and italic types, which were the source for ATF Garamond (1917), Monotype Garamond (1922), Deberny & Peignot Garamond (1912), ITC Garamond, and other variations of these Jannon designs.” p. 78

The situation is complex, but not as confusing as Kelly’s tortured syntax indicates. Here is an attempt to untangle things—and correct some dates. In 1919 American Type Founders released ATF Garamond designed by Morris Fuller Benton. (Six characters were redesigned by Thomas Maitland Cleland in 1922.) The typeface was a popular success, prompting other foundries and composing machine companies to produce their own “Garamond” types. Thus, the Lanston Monotype Machine Corporation in Philadelphia issued Garamont designed by Goudy in 1921; the Lanston Monotype Corporation, Ltd. in England released Monotype Garamond in 1922; and Intertype introduced Garatonian in 1926, which was subsequently renamed as Intertype Garamond. In 1926 Beatrice Warde, writing under the pseudonym Paul Beaujon, published “The ‘Garamond‘ Types in The Fleuron no. 5, revealing that these typefaces were really based on the work of Jean Jannon and not Claude Garamont. Her article was a major revelation within the nascent field of type history, but it had little effect on the commercial world of type manufacture.

Garamond, not Jannon, had quickly become a brand. Thus, the name was appended to other designs based on Jannon for many years after the publication of Warde’s article. These designs included Garamond no. 3 from Mergenthaler Linotype in 1936, a licensed adaptation of ATF Garamond; Amsterdam Garamond licensed from ATF; Grafotechna Garamond designed by Stanislav Marso (1910–1976) in 1959 following Benton’s design; and ITC Garamond by Tony Stan (1917–1988) in 1975, a licensed reconception of ATF Garamond. All of these Jannon-inspired designs can be considered as “false Garamonds”.

At the same time there has been a separate, though smaller, stream of “authentic Garamonds”. The first was Stempel Garamond (1925) based on Garamont’s types shown in the 1592 Egenolff-Berner specimen sheet. It was the basis for both Linotype Garamond [no. 1] (adapted by Joseph Hill in 1926) and Linotype Garamond no. 2 released by Mergenthaler Linotype (1929 copied from Mergenthaler Setzmaschinen-Fabrik GmbH, known colloquially as German Linotype, in 1929). (Both designs were commercial failures which led the company to license ATF’s Jannon-design as Linotype Garamond no. 3, the face mentioned above.) George W. Jones (1860–1942) designed an authentic Garamont-based design for Linotype & Machinery Ltd. (more commonly known as English Linotype) in 1928 and, in order to distinguish it from the false Garamonds, named it Granjon after Robert Granjon, Garamont’s contemporary. (This was unfortunate not only because it confused printers and designers, but because it forced Matthew Carter in 1978 to find another name for his Granjon-based typeface which was ultimately released as ITC Galliard.) Jones’ design was followed in 1929 by Ludlow Garamond, designed by R. Hunter Middleton (1898–1985), and decades later by Berthold Garamond by Günter Gerhard Lange (1921–2008) in 1972. In between the latter two Jan Tschichold (1902–1974) created simultaneous designs of a Garamont-influenced typeface named Sabon for Stempel, Linotype, and Monotype in 1967. His design included references to types cut by Guillaume Le Bé (1525–1598), a successor to Garamont, a fact emphasized by Jean François Porchez (b. 1964) when he created his digital adaptation called Sabon Next for Linotype Library in 2002. Finally, in 1989 Robert Slimbach (b. 1956) created Adobe Garamond for Adobe in 1989 and then substantially revised his design in 2006 as Adobe Garamond Premier Pro, a font family with four optical sizes. Although the five romans in both of Slimbach’s fonts are closely based on the types of Garamont, their companion italics are all closely derived from italics by Granjon.

Further Reading p. 317
Les Caractères de l’Imprimerie Nationale edited by Pierre Faucheux (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale Éditions, 1990).
• Suggested reading: The 1621 Specimen of Jean Jannon: Paris & Sedan, Designer & Engraver of the Caractères de l’Université Now Owned by the Imprimerie Nationale, Paris edited in facsimile, with an introduction by Paul Beaujon [pseudonym of Beatrice Warde] (Paris: H. Champion, 1927); and “The ‘Garamond’ Types” by Paul Beaujon [Beatrice Warde] in The Fleuron 5 (1926).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
p. 280—Garamond Roman / Jean Jannon c.1621 / Interpreted by Morris Fuller Benton / ATF / See no. 24
p. 281—Garamond Italic / Jean Jannon c.1621 / Interpreted by Morris Fuller Benton / ATF / See no. 24

Illustration
Unlabeled recto page showing Jean Jannon’s roman in upper- and lowercase (with a toned flat added in the background). (The exhibition showed this page and the verso opposite which includes Jannon’s capitals, small capitals, and figures.). The word spacing in this recto page is abysmal.
• Didier Barrière (b. 1956) reports that the sixteen-page type specimen is described as, “«Garamont Romain. Imitation du célèbre caractère du xvi^e siècle connu sous le nom de Romain de l’Université ; le garamont [sic] de l’Imprimerie Nationale a été acheté en 1641 à Jean Jannon, imprimeur et graveur, par Sébastien Cramoisy, premier directeur de l’Imprimerie Royale. » C’est tout.”
• The online exhibition shows this page in black-and-white with a caption “Garamont—Corps 36 non interligné” which has been deleted from the image in the book.

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pp. 80–83
25. Claude Lamesle (fl. 1737–1775)
Épreuves Générales de Caractères
Paris, 1742. Octavo.
[There is no provenance given. The online exhibition says the lender is Jerry Kelly.]

• Text is c.168 words
• Full title: Épreuves Générales Des Caractères Qui Se Trouvent Chez Claude Lamesle, Fondeur de Caracteres d’Imprimerie
• The online exhibition: “Lender: Jerry Kelly”. The Grolier Club also has a copy.
• There is a link to no. 24, but there should be many others: nos. 15, 16, 18, 22, 26, and 28.

“Lamesle’s type specimen shows a compendium of typeface designs from various places and times, some going back over a century, while others are contemporaneous with the publication of this volume…. Included in this compilation are not only romans and italics, but also civilités and other blackletter types, as well as ornaments, symbols, Greeks, and a few exotic alphabets.” p. 80

This is one of many entries in One Hundred Books Famous in Typography where the absence of captions is most keenly felt. The skimpy text is accompanied by three illustrations: the title page, a page of ornaments ( “Vignettes au corps de Gros Romain”) and a page of four titling typefaces (“Deux Points de S. Augustin”). None of the types are by Garamont, Granjon, or Jannon, all of whom Kelly cites as being in the specimen. Oddly, he does not mention Peter II Schoeffer even though the titling face labeled Numero I is his famous 1517 design that Kelly digitized under the name Epigrammata (2007). (On the Nonpareil Type website Kelly confuses Peter II Schoeffer with his father.)

Further Reading p. 317
Claude Lamesle: Épreuves générales des caractères by A.F. Johnson (Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger & Co., 1965).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
p. 269—Epigrammata / Peter Schöffer the Younger 1510 / Interpreted by Jerry Kelly / Nonpareil Typefoundry / See no. 25
• The website identifies the company as “Nonpareil Type”, not “Nonpareil Typefoundry”.

Illustrations
Title page, “Vignettes au corps de Gros Romain” (fleurons), and “Deux Points de S. Augustin Numero I–IV”. (Numero I is Peter Schöffer the Younger’s 1510 [sic] titling roman—see p. 269.) (The exhibition displayed “Civilité au Corps de Gros Romain, Numero XLIX”.)
• There are other pages that are more relevant to the content of Kelly’s text: e.g. “Suite des Vignettes de gros romain” [Granjon] or “Petit Canon, Numero LV” [by Le Bé?].

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pp. 84–85
26*. Pierre-Simon Fournier (1712–1768)
Manuel Typographique
Paris: printed for the author, 1764–1766. Two volumes. Octavo.
Provenance: Daniel Berkeley Updike; David R. Godine.

• Set in Fournier’s Cicéro Ordinaire (see No. XXXVIII, Manuel Typographique volume II, p. 36).

• Text is c.308 words
• The online exhibition: “Provenance: Daniel Berkeley Updike, author of Printing Types and proprietor of the Merrymount Press; later David R. Godine.” The Grolier Club has two copies, one of which is “Accompanied by typed notes and a Fournier family tree in manuscript by Daniel Berkeley Updike, from 1918.”
• There are no links. There should be some to nos. 15, 20, 27, 35, and 69.

“Pierre-Simon Fournier (also known as Fournier Le [sic] Jeune, to distinguish him from his printer father, Jean-Claude Fournier) was among…. Pierre-Simon Fournier was the second son of Jean-Claude Fournier, also a printer and typefounder.” p. 84

Pierre-Simon Fournier le jeune is commonly believed to be the third son of Jean-Claude Fournier (d. 1729), the foreman of the Le Bé foundry. Jean-Pierre Fournier l’ainé (1706–1783) took over the foundry upon his father’s death. Michel-François Fournier (1708–1782), the second son, became a printer in Auxerre. (See Biographie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne… by Louis-Gabriel Michaud (Paris: Ch. Delagrave et Cie, Libraires-Éditeurs, 1870), vol. 14, pp. 552–553 and the Fournier family tree by Jacques André online.) However, Borel d’Hauterive claims that Fournier was the eldest of nine children, six of them sons (three of whom died at a young age) and three of them daughters. (See Annuaire de la Noblesse de France et des Maisons Souverains de l’Éurope by Borel d’Hauterive (Paris: Au Bureau de la Publication, 1874), p. 171.)

“He [Fournier le jeune] was also one of the earliest developers of a point system (including features such as a pica divided into 12 points) that is in use to this day.” p. 84

The “Fournier point,” was based on a foot (pied), 1 foot equals 12 inches, 1 inch (pouce) was divided into 12 lines and 1 line (ligne) was further divided into 6 typographic points (points typographiques). Thus 144 points equaled one foot. There were no picas in his system, which was first published in 1737. In his refined system (1764) there were 12 points in 1 Cicéro.

“Fournier’s type designs were very influential, copied by Bodoni early in his career and forming the basis of a popular typeface revival produced by the Monotype Corporation under Stanley Morison’s direction in 1929.” p. 84

Monotype Fournier (Series 185), based on Fournier le jeune’s St. Augustin Ordinaire was released in 1925. (See “Fifty years of Type-Cutting 1900–1950” The Monotype Recorder, vol. 39, no. 2. (Autumn 1950), p. 10.) Kelly makes no mention of Monotype Barbou (Series 178), a second, darker Fournier revival overseen by Morison which was was first used in The Fleuron No. 5 in 1926; nor of PS Fournier by Stéphane Elbaz (Typofonderie, 2015).

Kelly’s text omits any reference to the influence of the romain du roi on Fournier le jeune’s roman and italic types. And, although he lists many of Fournier’s numerous achievements, his influential scripts and his pioneering role in creating type “families” (e.g. Cicero Ordinaire, Cicero Moyen, and Cicero Gros oeil) are absent.

Further Reading p. 317
The Manuel Typographique of Pierre-Simon Fournier le jeune with Fournier on type-founding, an English translation of the text by Harry Carter [1930] with an introduction and notes by James Mosley (Darmstadt: Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, 1995); 3 vols.
• Suggested reading: Fournier: The Compleat Typographer by Allen Hutt (Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman & Littlefield, 1972).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
p. 282—Fournier Italic / Pierre-Simon Fournier c.1760 / Interpreted by Stanley Morison / Monotype / See no. 26
p. 283—Fournier Roman / Pierre-Simon Fournier c.1760 / Interpreted by Stanley Morison / Monotype / See no. 26

Illustrations
S. Augustin Ordinaire roman and italic specimens (volume I, pp. 44–45) overlapping each other. (The exhibition displayed the title page of volume I and a page of ornaments for volume II.) Tonal flats have been added. The illustrations come from a spread which has been cut up. The cockeyed imposition of the text block on the verso has been straightened up, but the distorted border on the recto—due to the curvature of the page—remains. See the online exhibition which has a black-and-white image.
• The ex libris of Daniel Berkeley Updike is on p. 84.
• Kelly could have chosen better pages to provide a sense of the variety of material in Fourier’s two volumes—or he could have added extra pages to accommodate more images. Here are some suggestions for additional illustrations: either title page to show ornaments in use; vol. I p. 36 where music type is explained; vol. I, p. 133 “Table Générale de la Proportion des différens Corps de Caractères”;  vol. I, p. 172 text on rules for combining fleurons; or the fold-out showing the hand mould; vol. II, p. 89 with “lettres ornées de deux points” (de Philosophie, de Cicéro, de Saint-augustin) which shows three styles; vol. II, p. 114 “Vignettes” which include the amusing man with tousled hair; vol. II, p. 136 “Bâtarde Coulée”; vol. II, p. 188 with “2 Italique moderne” [Fournier] and “3 Italique ancienne” [Garamont or Granjon]; or vol. II, p. 241 “suite de l’Arabe”.

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pp. 86–87
27. Enschedé Typefoundry / Joan Michael Fleischman (1701–1768)
Proef van Letteren
Haarlem: J. Enschedé, 1768. Octavo.
Provenance: The Grolier Club.

• The title page is set in several typefaces, among them Dubbelde Augustyn Geschaduwde-Gefigureerde Capitalen [lines 1 and 3], Dubbelde Descendiaan Geschaduwd-Gefigureerde Capitalen (1764) [line 7], Garmond Curcyf No. 1 (1736) [line 4], and Text romein op Paragon (1739) [line 5]. The second type was cut by J.F. Rosart and the latter two by J.M. Fleischman.

• Text is c.336 words
• There are no links. Recommended links would be nos. 23, 26, 29, 35, 48, 48A, 72, and 85.
• “Cristoffel van Dijck” should be “Christoffel van Dijck”
• “Aimé Tavernier” is also known as “Ameet Tavernier” (c.1522/1526–1570).

“Fleischman’s romans and italics are in the transitional/modern style.” p. 86

Since transitional and “modern” (neoclassical) types are generally considered as separate categories of type, this description needs further explication beyond Kelly’s description of serifs and stroke contrast in Fleischman’s roman and italic types. Unfortunately, the types on the title page of the specimen, the lone illustration in the catalogue, are largely decorative and thus provide little visual assistance.

“…recently Fleischman’s work has been revived in digital form, through which he is again enjoying some popularity among a small group of discerning typographers.” p. 86

These digital revivals of Fleischman’s types are not mentioned. Three of them are DTL Fleischman (1995) by Erhard Kaiser, Fleischman BT Pro (2002) by Charles Gibbons, and Freight Text (2005) by Joshua Darden.

“An engraved portrait of Fleischman appears at the end of the book….” p. 86

The engraving of Fleischman—showing him holding an adjustable type mould in his left hand and what appears to be a punch in his right hand, with the tools of his trade (files, gravers, calipers, a hammer, a mallet, etc.) on the bench in front of him—appears at the front of the specimen book before the first samples of typefaces. It is a very important image for what it tells us of the practice of punchcutting in 18th century Holland.

Fleischman was so esteemed by the Enschedés that not only did they include a portrait of him in the 1768 specimen (after a portrait of Joannes Enschedé), but they specifically identified the types that he cut and the years. This was an unprecedented act that has been extremely beneficial to type historians.

p. 317 Further Reading p. 317
The Enschedé Type Specimens of 1768 and 1773: A Facsimile by John A. Lane (Haarlem: Stichting Museum Enschedé and The Enschedé Font Foundry; Amsterdam: Uitgeverij De Buitenkant, 1993).
• Suggested Reading—Fleischman on Punchcutting edited by Frans A. Janssen (Aartswoud: Spectatorpers; Amsterdam: Minotaurus Boekwinkel 1994).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to the Enschedé specimen. One suggestion is DTL Fleischmann by Erhard Kaiser (1995).

Illustration
Title page. (The exhibition showed a page with three sizes of Geschaduwde Capitalen [shaded capitals].)
• Kelly could have shown the famous smirking portrait of Fleischman holding the tools of his trade as a punchcutter (adjustable mold, hammer, gravers,  ladles, etc.); or a page where Fleischman is explicitly credited with the design of one or two typefaces (e.g. Parangon roman and italic [1739]).

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pp. 88–89
28. Louis Delacolonge (1727–c.1795)
Les Caracteres et les Vignettes de la Fonderie du Sieur Delacolonge
Lyons: Delacolonge, 1773. Octavo.
[There is no provenance given. The online exhibition says, “Provenance: Philip Hofer; later Jerry Kelly.”]

• The title page is set in a range of types, among them Rosart’s Dubbelde Descendiaan Geschaduwd-Gefigureerde Capitalen (1764) [lines 1 and 8] previously seen on the 1768 Enschedé specimen title page (no. 27) and listed by Delacolonge as Lettres de Deux Points Italique. The text on page 32 is set in Granjon’s English-sized (Saint-augustin) Italic couché [It 93] (1563). (See Vervliet 2010, p. 313.) The “little man” on the title page is a design by Fournier le jeune.

• Text is c.210 words
•There are no links, but there should be ones to nos. 15, 16, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27, 30, 30A, 32, and 35.
• “Hautlin” should be “Haultin”

“Unlike other type specimens in this exhibition, such as those of Fournier, Caslon and Bodoni, the fonts displayed in Delacolonge’s volume are not the work of one man. Instead they are a conglomeration of types cut by various people over the course of a couple of centuries.” p. 88

“…forty-two of [the typefaces in the book] date from before 1600. The survival and display of so many early fonts shown in this volume is very fortunate….” p. 88

Kelly’s comment is not entirely true. Both the Fournier (no. 26) and Caslon (no. 30) specimens in the exhibition include a few typefaces cut by others (e.g. the Triple-Canon in Fournier was cut by Guillaume Le Bé and the French Cannon in Caslon was cut by Joseph Moxon). Moreover, the Delacolonge is not the only specimen book in the exhibition to display the work of many punchcutters (see the Index Sive Specimen Characterum of Plantin [no. 17], the Indice de Caratteri… of the Stampa Vaticana [no. 22], and the Lamesle specimen [no. 25]). In fact, it is unclear how much (and in what ways) Delacolonge differs from Lamesle.

Kelly says nothing about Louis Delacolonge and his foundry. Luc Devroye’s website has this summary: “French foundry in Lyon, est. 1720 by Alexandre de Lacolonge. The foundry was run by his widow, veuve de Lacolonge, from before 1742 until 1754, and by the widow and her son from 1754–1766. In 1766, Louis Delacolonge took the reins and ran the foundry until some time after 1789.”

Further Reading p. 317
The Type Specimen of Delacolonge by Harry Carter (Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co., 1969).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to the Delacolonge specimen and there is no good reason for one to be.

Illustrations
Page 42 showing “Saint Augustin a son oeil italiq.” overlapping the title page. (The exhibition displayed a page showing ornaments.)
• Note the use of the Fournier man with disheveled hair on the title page and Fournier’s ornamented capitals. The S. augustin italiq. is by Robert Granjon.
• Some better options for illustrations: “Autre S. Augustin a son oeil ital.” p. 33 (Fournier italic, decorative initial and ornaments); or “Civilité de Cicero” p. 95.
• The online exhibition shows the title page and p. 42 without any overlapping.

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pp. 90–91
29. Firmin Didot (1764–1836)
Spécimen des Nouveaux Caractères et des l’Imprimerie de P. Didot, l’Ainé
Paris: Pierre Didot, 1819. Octavo.
Provenance: Presentation by the author to The Grolier Club.

• Set in types cut by Jean Vibert or Vibert Pére (1763–1843) [not Joseph Vibert l’ainé, as I mistakenly wrote in Revival Type (2017)] (See the “Nécrologie” [obituary] by Alkan Ainé in Feuilleton du Journal de la Librairie No. 2 (13 Janvier 1844) bound with Bibliographie de la France ou Journal Général de l’Imprimerie et de la Librairie… (Paris: Chez Pillet Ainé, Imprimeur-Libraire, 1844) in Google Books.)

• Text is c.168 words
• The provenance above makes no sense since Pierre Didot (1761–1853) died long before the founding of the Grolier Club in 1884. The online exhibition is more accurate: “PROVENANCE: Presentation by the author; Library of the Grolier Club”. The Grolier Club owns two copies of the book. “Grolier Club copy 1 [is] inscribed by Didot to Parisian bookseller Benjamin Duprat, with his widow’s annotation.” The full inscription (in French) can be read in the catalogue (p. 90) and in the online exhibition.
• There are no links, though there should be ones to nos. 20, 23, 26, 35, and 99.
• The imprint “Paris: Pierre Didot, 1819” should be “Paris: Chez P. Didot l’Ainé et Jules Didot, Fils”.
• “Hoefler Typefoundry” should be “Hoefler Type Foundry”.
• “Walbaum” is Justus Erich Walbaum (1768–1837), a German typefounder.

“As far as typography goes, perhaps the most important member of the [Didot] dynasty was Firmin Didot, who cut a very refined series of modern typefaces for his brother Pierre (1761–1853).” p. 90

It is true that Firmin cut many typefaces that his brother Pierre, the printer, used—but he did not cut any of those in this specimen. Instead, these were all cut by Jean Vibert, closely supervised by Pierre Didot. This is explained by the latter in the “Avis” to the specimen: “Tous ceux-ci ont été gravés sous mes yeux, d’après les modèles que j’ai fixés généralement pour les différents types, et les changements particuliers que j’ai fait subir à queleques uns d’entre eux, notamment au g, et à l’y. Despuit environ dix années consécutives, pendant lesquelles j’ai employé assez régulièrement à peu près trois heures par jour à ce travail avec M. Vibert, actuellement sans doute l’un de nos plus habiles graveurs en lettres, ou poinçoins, mes retouches les plus multipliées, mes indications les plus minutieuses, peut-être même mes caprices de perfectionnement, qui souvent m’ont porté à recommencer deux ou trois fois les mêmes types, n’ont pu refroidir son zéle, ni me laisser entrevoir le terme de sa patience.” (The g and the y are among the few peculiar characters that distinguish Vibert’s neoclassical types from those of Firmin Didot, Joseph Molé jeune, and others. See the digital version called Optimo Didot the Elder by François Rappo [2004], which is inexplicably missing from Kelly’s list of digital Didot fonts.) (Also see no. 65 Type Designs: Their History and Development by A.F. Johnson [London: Grafton & Co., 1934], p. 88 re: Pierre Didot, Firmin Didot, Vibert and the 1819 specimen.)

Further Reading p. 317
Historical Types from Gutenberg to Ashendene by Stan Knight (New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 2012).
• Suggested readings: “The types of François-Amboise Didot and Pierre-Louis Vafflard. A further investigation into the origins of the Didones” by Gerard Unger in Quaerendo vol. 31, no. 3 (2001), pp. 165–191; and The ‘modern face’ in France and Great Britain, 1781–1825: typography as an ideal of progress by Sébastien Morlighem (Reading, England: MA thesis, 2014); Spécimens de caractères de Firmin et Jules Didot by André Jammes (Paris: Éditions des Cendres, 2002); and The Didot Family and the Progress of Printing by Albert Joseph George (Syracuse University Press, 1961).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to the Didot family. But there are several excellent potential choices: Linotype Didot Roman and Linotype Didot Headline by Adrian Frutiger (see no. 99) (1991), Optimo Didot the Elder by François Rappo (2004), and HTF Didot by Jonathan Hoefler (1991).

Illustrations
Title page overlapping a page showing Le Vingt et Un size of roman. (The exhibition showed Le Douze or St. Augustin size.)
• The title page is visually dull. The first page of the “Avis,” with Pierre Didot’s explanation of his supervision of Vibert’s cutting of the types is more relevant. The page showing the extraordinarily small Le Quatre et Demi size is astonishing.
• Note that the sizes used by Didot are based on a point system. The Gallica copy has the older names of the type sizes added by hand.
• There are better books to show Firmin Didot’s work as a punchcutter. Morlighem suggests the 1791 Virgil folio printed by Pierre Didot or Les Bucoliques de Virgil (1806) translated and printed by Firmin. The latter also includes the first showing of Firmin’s radical scripts composed of individual strokes and parts of letters.

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pp. 92–93
30*. William Caslon (1692–1766)
A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon Letter-Founder to His Majesty
London: Printed by Galabin and Baker, 1785. Octavo.
Provenance: George Abrams.

• Text is c.448 words
• The online exhibition: “Provenance: American type designer George Abrams [1920–2001]; later Jerry Kelly”. This is more accurate than the provenance provided above. The Grolier Club also owns a copy.
• There are links to nos. 51, 53, and 82, all of which are minor. The first two are to users of Caslon types in the 20th century. If this is important, Kelly could have added nos. 45, 47, 61, 63, 75, 81, 83, and 88. But better links would have been to nos. 23, 30A, 38, 45, 78, and 84.
• Bernard H. Newdigate (1869–1944) was a British printer and typographer.

“…Justin Howes digitized most of the Caslon type designs…” p. 92

The types that Howes digitized were not the types that William Caslon had cast in the 18th century. Instead they were designs cast from resharpened punches in the late 19th century. (See “Recasting Caslon Old Face” by James Mosley on his blog Typefoundry 4 January 2009.)

Further Reading p. 317
William Caslon, 1693–1766: The Ancestry, Life, and Connections of England’s Foremost Letter-Engraver and Type-Founder by Johnson Ball (Kineton, Warwickshire: The Roundwood Press, 1973).
(Kelly has truncated the title as William Caslon, 1693–1766.)

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
p. 284—Caslon / William Caslon c.1725 / Interpreted by Matthew Carter / Carter & Cone / See no. 30
p. 285—Caslon c.1725 / Interpreted by Justin Howes / ITC / See no. 30

Illustration
Page showing Great Primer Roman and Great Primer Italic. (The exhibition displayed a page with larger sizes of type: Two-Line Great Primer, Two-Line English, and Two-Line Pica.)

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pp. 94–95
30A. William Caslon (1692–1766)
A Specimen by William Caslon, Letter-Founder 1734
London: William Caslon, 1734. Broadside.
[There is no provenance given. The online exhibition says, “Lender: Jerry Kelly.”]

• The French Cannon type on the broadside was cut by Joseph Moxon. (See “Proves of several Sorts of Letters Cast by Joseph Moxon” (1699) broadside specimen where it is called Great Cannon Romain.)

• Text is c.60 words
• There is a link to no. 4. There should also be links to nos. 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 35, 38, 66 and 66A.

“…this specimen, printed to be folded and included in Chambers’ Cyclopaedia…” p. 94

Although dated 1734, this specific copy of Caslon’s famous broadside specimen was actually printed in 1750 or 1751. It is variant H of the broadside intended to be included in a later edition of the Cyclopaedia. (See Yale Center for British Art “This has all points called for in Berry & Johnson’s variant H, i.e. no blank space across center of sheet; 18 units of pica flowers (fourth band from the left at bottom); word ‘specimen’ at foot in long primer caps; ‘s’ in word ‘nostra’ in French Cannon italic specimen is broken off. ‘This specimen to be placed in the middle of sheet 5 Uu, vol. II’ [of Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, 6th or 7th ed., London, 1750 or 1751]. cf. Berry & Johnson. Specimens of printing types, 1665–1830, p. 15″ [no. 61 in the catalogue].) The Getty copy of the Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences Sixth edition by E. Chambers (London, 1750), vol. II. still has the Caslon broadside inserted into it.

The Grolier Club has a copy of variant B from the 1738 edition of Chambers’ Cyclopaedia. For a true 1734 copy of Caslon’s broadside specimen see Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Further Reading p. 317
[There is nothing listed.]
• Suggested reading—Catalogue of specimens of printing types by English and Scottish Printers and Founders, 1665–1830 by W. Turner Berry and A. F. Johnson (London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1935).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no linked typeface, though Big Caslon by Matthew Carter (1994) would have been perfect.

Illustration
The broadside.

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pp. 96–97
31*. William Bulmer (1757–1830)
Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell
London: Shakespeare Printing Office, 1795. Quarto.
[There is no provenance given. The online exhibition says the lender is Jerry Kelly.]

• Set in roman and italic types cut by William Martin.

• Text is c.350 words
• There are no links, but there should be ones to nos. 23, 29, 35, 55, and 69.
• “Advertissement” should be “Advertisement”. (See p. [v] in Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell.)
• “Bewick” is Thomas Bewick (1753–1828), pioneering wood engraver; “Whatman” is James Whatman the Younger (1741–1798), the son of the papermaker who worked with John Baskerville to create wove paper (see no. 23).
• William Martin (c.1765–1815).

The text focuses on William Martin and has nothing to say about either William Bulmer or Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell.

Although Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell is famous for its “Advertisement” in which Bulmer credits Martin’s typefaces for part of its success (p. vi), it was not the first Shakespeare Printing-Office book in which Martin’s types were publicly acknowledged, nor the first in which his types were used, nor the best typographically. According to Talbot Baines Reed (see no. 41), Martin’s types made their first appearance in the first part of The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare revised by George Steevens (London: John and Josiah Boydell, George and W. Nicol, 1792–1802). He also says that the famous bibliophile Thomas Frognall Dibdin (1776–1847) considered The Poetical Works of John Milton, with a Life of the Author by William Hayley (London: John and Josiah Boydell, and George Nicol, 1794–1797) to be “the finer specimen of typography,” one which rivaled the books of Bodoni. (See A History of the Old English Letter Foundries by Talbot Baines Reed [London: Elliot Stock, 1887], p. 331.) The title page of the Milton bears the imprint “London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co., Shakespeare Printing-Office, for John and Josiah Boydell and George Nicol, from the types of W. Martin, 1794–1797.” The Grolier Club owns a copy of the three-volume work.

“The types used in this book would be re-cut by the British Monotype Corporation and later issued in digital form.” p. 96

Monotype Bulmer was cut in 1937 for private use and released for general use in 1939. It was based on Bulmer, an interpretation of Martin’s types designed by Morris Fuller Benton for American Type Founders (1928). (See Anatomy of a Typeface by Alexander Lawson [no. 91], p. 317. Monotype Bulmer is not mentioned in either the original edition of A Tally of Types by Stanley Morison [no. 69] or the expanded 1973 edition.) Monotype’s digital version, drawn by Ron Carpenter in 1995, was also based on ATF Bulmer.

Further Reading p. 317
William Bulmer: The Fine Printer in Context, 1757–1830 by Peter Isaac (London: Bain & Williams, 1993).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• The revised version of Monotype Bulmer drawn by Ron Carpenter (1995) is not included.

Illustration
“To Messrs. Boydells and Nichol” (p. iv) showing William Martin’s italic type. (The exhibition displayed the opening spread of “The Traveller” by Oliver Goldsmith [pp. 2–3].)
• “The Traveller” p. 3; or “The Hermit” by William Parnell p. 63 would have been better choices since they show Martin’s roman which is historically more important than his italic. Both of his types, albeit at a small size, can be seen on p. 60 in “Life of Thomas Parnell, D.D.”.

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pp. 98–99
32*. S. & C. Stephenson
A Specimen of Printing Types and Various Ornaments
London: Printed by A. Macpherson, 1856. Octavo.
Provenance: The Grolier Club.

• Text is c.336 words
• The correct date is 1796.
• According to the Exeter Working Papers in Book History website S. & C. Stephenson were Simon and Charles Stephenson.
• The Grolier Club does not own a book with this title. Its only type specimen dated 1856 is Specimen of Printing Types, Ornaments, Rules &c. (Sheffield: Stephenson, Blake and Company, [1856]). This is clearly the book Kelly’s provenance note is referring to since the the Grolier Club’s online catalogue says, “Exhibited: “100 Books Famous in Typography,” Grolier Club Exhibition Hall, May 12 – July 31, 2021.”
• There is a link to no. 69. There should be links also to nos. 23, 29, 31, and 35.
• Richard Austin (1756–1832).

This is a specious entry. In it Kelly has conflated two different foundries and two different specimen books.

“[Richard] Austin’s name appears on the title page of the Stephenson specimen book, a most unusual credit for any typefoundry in any era.” p. 98

The specimen book with Austin’s name on it (“The Punches by Richard Austin.”) that he has in mind is A Specimen of Printing Types and Various Ornaments for the Embellishment of Press Work by S. & C. Stephenson, British Foundry (London: Printed by A. Macpherson, 1796). The 1796 date explains why this entry is situated between Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell (1895) and Oratio Dominica (1806). Most of Kelly’s text focuses on John Bell and the types cut for him by Richard Austin (1756–1833).

“[The] Stephenson [foundry] was descended from the British Letter-Foundry, founded by John Bell (1746–1831) in 1774.… Bell took Simeon Stephenson (d. 1864) into partnership in 1789, transferring ownership of the foundry to him late in the year….” p. 96

Bell was born in 1745 not 1746 according to Stanley Morison, author of John Bell: 1745–1831 (1930). The British Letter-Foundry was established in May 1788 not in 1774. The foundry became Bell and Stephenson’s British Original Letter Foundry in 1789, and Simeon Stephenson and Co. in 1793. Bell announced his withdrawal from the partnership with Stephenson on December 4, 1789 (See Morison, pp. 16–17 and 22; and A History of the Old English Letter Foundries by Talbot Baines Reed, p. 353 [no. 41]) Stephenson issued his first type specimen as sole owner in 1791. By 1796 the business was known as the Foundry of S. & C. Stephenson, but one year later it was sold and its contents dispersed. Thus, there is no connection between Simon (Simeon) Stephenson and Stephenson, Blake & Co. which began as Blake, Garnett & Co. in 1819. (See Berry and Johnson, pp. 58–61 and 77.)* Blake, Garnett & Co. became Blake and Stephenson in 1830 and then Stephenson, Blake & Co. in 1841.

This last point is crucial since Kelly, in his closing paragraph, has apparently gotten his Stephensons mixed up and thus confused the 1796 S. & C. Stephenson specimen with the 1856 Stephenson, Blake & Co. specimen displayed in the exhibition:

“This type specimen is one of the most complete inventories of any typefoundry of its time, and therefore is a valuable document for the study of typography in late eighteenth-century Great Britain.” p. 98

James Mosley says that, “The British Letter-Foundry was not a large concern by comparison with its chief commercial rivals.” (See Mosley below, p. 8.) The 1796 specimen has only twenty-six typefaces in it (twelve sizes of roman, five sizes of italic, and nine decorative faces). This was significantly less than what the Caslon and Fry foundries offered at the time. In 1856 the Stephenson, Blake & Co. foundry could have qualified as having “one of the most complete inventories of any typefoundry of its time.” though its 250 pages paled beside the 372 pages of Laurent & de Berny’s 1828 specimen book.

While Kelly’s text commingles descriptions pertaining to these two specimen books, his two accompanying illustrations (a page displaying Small Pica, No. 1 overlapped by one showing Two Lines Great Primer, a Fat Face) on p. 99 muddy the waters even further. Neither of them can be found in A Specimen of Printing Types and Various Ornaments for the Embellishment of Press Work by S. & C. Stephenson. They do not appear in the 1856 Specimen of Printing Types, Ornaments, Rules &c. by Stephenson, Blake and Company according to Scott Ellwood, assistant librarian of the Grolier Club. And, Paul Gehl, former Custodian of the John M. Wing Foundation on the History of Printing at the Newberry Library says that the pages are not in that institution’s c.1838 Stephenson, Blake and Company specimen book. In fact that they are not from any specimen book issued by Stephenson, Blake & Co. or any other British type foundry.

With the help of type designer Paul Barnes, who noted the open loop of the g and the presence of a dollar sign $ in the Small Pica, No. 1 specimen, I matched all of the visible types (Small Pica, No. 1 roman and italic; and Two Lines Great Primer roman and italic) to the Foundery of Binny & Ronaldson in Philadelphia. They are present in their 1812 specimen (pp. [10] and [21]) but not in the same configuration as in Kelly’s illustration. However, Jennifer B. Lee of the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library found exact matches for both specimen pages in Specimen of Printing Type from the Letter Foundry of James Ronaldson, Successor to Binny & Ronaldson… (Philadelphia: J. Ronaldson, 1816). There is no reference to Binny & Ronaldson or James Ronaldson on his own in the One Hundred Books Famous in Typography catalogue to explain these illustrations. This entry is either evidence of surprising ignorance and incompetence on Kelly’s part—or deliberate deceit.

*In his Introduction to the Printing Historical Society reprint of the 1796 catalogue combined with the 1797 sales catalogue Mosley says that the material of S. & C. Stephenson was eventually acquired by the Fann Street Foundry and that it then passed to Stephenson, Blake & Co. in 1905. (See Mosley, p. 8.)

Further Reading p. 317
S. & C. Stephenson: A Specimen of Printing Types and Various Ornaments 1796, reproduced together with the Sale Catalogue of the British Letter-Foundry, 1797. Introduction by James Mosley (London: The Printing Historical Society, 1990).
• Suggested reading: Transitional Faces. The Lives & Work of Richard Austin, Type-Cutter, & Richard Turner Austin, Wood-Engraver by Alastair Johnston (Berkeley: Poltroon Press, 2013) and John Bell, 1745–1831: Bookseller, Printer, Publisher, Typefounder, Journalist, &c. by Stanley Morison (London: The First Edition Club, 1930.

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to John Bell. But an obvious one would be the digital version of Monotype Bell (1931), supervised by Robin Nicholas. An alternative would be Austin by Paul Barnes (2007).

Illustrations
A page showing Two Lines Great Primer (a Fat Face) overlapping a page with Small Pica, No. 1 visible. (The exhibition showed Fat Face, Ten Lines No. 2 from Specimen of Printing Types, Ornaments, Rules &c. by Stephenson, Blake and Company [1856].)
• In the online exhibition the two pages are separated and thus the full page with Small Pica, No. 1 can be seen, including the presence of Small Pica No.3, on Long Primer Body. The latter was crucial in confirming that these pages were part of the 1816 James Ronaldson specimen.

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pp. 100–101
33*. Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813)
Oratio Dominica
Parma: Bodoni, 1806. Folio.
Provenance: David R. Godine.

• Text is c.301 words
• Full title: Oratio Dominica in CLV linguas versa et exoticis characteribus plerumque expressa
• The imprint should read: Parma: Typis Bodonianis, 1806
• The online exhibition: “Provenance: Bruce Rogers; later David R. Godine.” This is more accurate and interesting than the text above.
• There are links to nos. 22 and 35. There could also be links to nos. 6, 18, and 14.

“His [Bodoni’s] model for the book was the printing by the Imprimerie Impériale in Paris of the Lord’s Prayer in 150 languages (Bodoni clearly wanted to do that book one—or five—better).” p. 100

The French book that Kelly mentions is Oratio dominica CL linguis versa, et propriis cujusque linguæ characteribus plerumque expressa by J.J. Marcel (Paris: Typis Imperialibus, 1805). (The Grolier Club owns a copy.) The British Library European Studies blog has this additional background about the genesis of Oratio Dominica: “Bodoni liked to re-edit books published by others, trying to make them better. A case in point is the Oratio Dominica (a polyglot edition of the Lord’s Prayer), which Bodoni was invited to produce by Pope Pius VI when he stopped to see him in Parma. The Pope said that, during his recent visit to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon, in December 1804, he was gifted with a copy of the Oratio Dominica in 150 languages, by Jean-Joseph Marcel, director of the Imprimerie Nationale [sic], and he challenged Bodoni to produce something finer and in more languages, to prove his skills.” There were other editions of the Oratio Dominica prior to these two. See Collection de Spécimens de Caractères 1517–2004 by André Jammes who lists three earlier ones (pp. 41–44): (London: D. Brown & W. Keblewhite, 1700), (Augsburg: Johann-Ulrich Krause, c.1700), and (Amsterdam: G. & D. Goeri, 1715).

Further Reading p. 317
Edizioni Bodoniane by H.C. Brooks (Florence: Tipografia Barbèra, 1927); and Giambattista Bodoni: His Life and His World by Valerie Lester (Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, 2015).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to Bodoni’s non-Latin types. See no. 35 for links to his roman and italic types.

Illustration
p. CXVII (117) showing “Etrusce Dialecto Latina”. A tonal flat has been added to the image and the margins have been cropped. The online exhibition shows a black-and-white image of the page which is even more severely cropped and is missing its folio. (This book was absent from the exhibition, most likely due to its size and the lack of space in the case.)

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pp. 102–103
34. Isaiah Thomas (1749–1831)
The History of Printing in America
Worcester: The Press of Isaiah Thomas, Jun., 1810. Two volumes. Octavo.
Provenance: The Grolier Club.

• Set in Pica Roman No. 1 from Binny & Ronaldson (which looks like a copy of Pica Roman No. 1 [New] shown in the 1796 Caslon foundry specimen) and in Pica Italic No. 1 (which does not seem to have a predecessor in the 1796 Caslon specimen book). (See Specimen of Printing Types from the Foundery of Binny & Ronaldson (Philadelphia: Fry and Kammerer, Printers, 1812), f. [19].)

• Text is c.420 words
• The full title is much longer as is evident in the accompanying illustration of the title page of volume II. Both volumes are available online:
The History of Printing in America vol. I
The History of Printing in America vol. II

Why The History of Printing in America is included in this exhibition is a mystery since Thomas devotes only a few paragraphs to typefounding (see vol. I, pp. 213-214) and none to typography. Furthermore, the two volumes are not examples of outstanding typography. Kelly’s text is devoted to a recapitulation of Thomas’ life and the history of various editions of his book.

Further Reading p. 318
The History of Printing in America:With a Biography of Printers and an Account of Newspapers by Isaiah Thomas; edited by Marcus A. McCorison (Barre, Massachusetts: Imprint Society, 1970).

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
• There is no digital typeface linked to Isaiah Thomas and no reason for there to be.

Illustration
Title page and frontispiece of volume I. (The exhibition showed the title page and frontispiece of volume II.) The image is fuzzy.
• Thomas’ two volumes are not only typographically dull, but they are unillustrated as well.

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pp. 104–107
35*. Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813)
Manuale Tipografico
Parma: Presso la Vedova, 1818. Two volumes. Folio.
Provenance: Samuel Putnam Avery; The Grolier Club.

• Several different typefaces are used in the introductory material in volume I. The “Maestà”* is set in Bodoni’s Inglese Sopracanoncino (p. 168); “La Vedova Bodoni Al Lettore” is set in the italic of Testo 3 (Cesena) (p. 83); and “Giambattista Bodoni a Chi Legge” is set in Soprasilvio 7 (Tolosa) (p. 77).

• Text is c.434 words
• The online exhibition: “Provenance: Samuel Putnam Avery; given to the Library of the Grolier Club.”
• Note: the internet link above is to the copy in the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University which was used for the Octavo CD-ROM (2002). There are other digitized copies online, but they lack the photographic clarity of this one.
• There is a link to no. 33. There should also be links to nos. 26, 29, 38, 55, and 82.
• p. 104—”Father Paolo Maria Piciardi” should be “Father Paolo Maria Paciaudi“. He was the librarian to the Grand Duke of Parma 1761–1785.

“By 1791 he [Bodoni] was allowed to set up his own private press, independent from the Royal Press.” p. 104

The Royal Press was the Stampa Ducale. For its imprint Bodoni used Dalla Stamperia Reale, Dalla Reale Tipografia, and Ex Regio Typographeo. For his own imprint he had even more variations, all depending upon the language of the text of each book: Typis Bodonianis (Latin), Co’ Tipi Bodoniani or Impresso Co’ Caratteri Bodoniani (Italian), l’Imprimerie Bodoni (French), Printed by Bodoni (English), as well as one in Greek.

“…his [Bodoni’s] style was superseded in mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries by a revived interest in Caslon and other old style typefaces….” p. 104

This is not only an Anglo-American perspective, but it is colored by a focus on fine printing. In trade publishing and in jobbing printing neoclassical types influenced by both Bodoni and the Didots remained popular throughout the 19th century in Europe, and British/Scottish interpretations of them were equally common in England and the United States. Dutch type designer and type historian G.W. Ovink (1912–1984) has written, “By 1840 the ‘modern faces or ‘didones’ (in the Vox-classification used henceforward) completely dominated the typographic scene.… Unreadable and monotonous as the didones were, and numerous as were the attempts to provide better types, the charm of the punchcutters’ virtuosity appeared irresistible: the development of didones went on till the end of the century.” And, further on in the first part of a three-part article on didones and their 19th-century rivals, he reinforces his point: “It should be remembered… that throughout the 19th century the bulk of text printing was executed in didones, and their Fraktur-counterparts for the German-speaking countries. Of the various alternative type models… none captured the field. They were always used consciously, by self-willed printers or publishers, in opposition to the normal, viz. the didones, hence they are to be found in texts of a historical, literary or artistic nature if they are themselves historical (Caslon, Old Style, Elzévir etc.), or in books with critical legibility problems (bibles, dictionaries, schoolbooks) if they aim at greater legibility.” (See “Nineteenth-century reactions against the didone type model—I” by G.W. Ovink in Quaerendo vol. 1, no. 2 (1971), pp. 18 and 21.)

It should also be noted that the first classic typeface to be revived commercially was Morris Fuller Benton’s Bodoni for American Type Founders designed in 1910 and released in 1911. It was an immediate popular success and continued to be throughout the remainder of the metal type era in the twentieth century, easily rivaling Caslon in use.

* “Maestà” was an abbreviated rendition of “A Sua Maestà La Principessa Imperiale Maria Luisa, Archiduchessa d’Austria, Duchessa di Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla ecc. ecc.”

Further Reading p. 318
Manual of Typography by Giambattista Bodoni; edited by Stephan Füssel (Taschen, 2010)
Giambattista Bodoni: His Life and His World by Valerie Lester (Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, 2015).
[The Taschen title is unclear, but Kelly seems to have it wrong, including the date. I think he is referring to Taschen’s smaller version called The Complete Manual of Typography 2016 which was published in several editions for multiple languages.]

Fifty Typefaces Famous in Typography
p. 288—Bodoni Italic / Giambattista Bodoni c.1790 / Interpreted by Sumner Stone / ITC / See no. 35
p. 289—Bodoni Roman / Giambattista Bodoni c.1790 / Interpreted by Heinrich Jost / Bauer / See no. 35

Illustrations
Three pages are illustrated:  “Imperiale Corsivo” (vol. I); “Fregi 988–996”, and oldstyle figures “Numeri Arabici” (both from volume II). (The exhibition showed p. 60 “Majuscole 34” (Greek italic capitals) from volume II.) The presentation plate of Samuel Putnam Avery is reproduced on p. 106.
• Kelly has doctored all three images from the Manuale Tipografico. He has added a toned background, removed the folios, and reduced Bodoni’s generous margins. (See p. 142 vol. I; p. 245 and p. 272 in vol. II in the digitized Southern Methodist University copy in the Bridwell Library.) The online exhibition shows images of pages from the Octavo CD-ROM version of the Manuale Tipografico which was photographed from the Bridwell Library copy. (Note the copyright credit visible at lower left.)
• None of these three pages does justice to the richness of Bodoni work as a punchcutter. To show his variety of roman designs (which totaled over 140 and ranged from imitations of Pierre Simon Fournier le jeune to original neoclassical designs), at least two (if not three) of them should have been displayed (e.g. p. 107 “Ascendonica” [Bari], p. 121 “Canonicino” [Recanati], p. 136 “Ducale 2” [Gaeta], and p. 143 “Papale Tondo” [Saluzzo]). Note: Bodoni had unique names for his typefaces that included the names of Italian cities (e.g. Bari).