Blue Pencil no. 63—Type Specimens 1770 to 1799

This is the third in a series of posts listing type specimens that have been digitized and placed online. Many of them are downloadable in whole or as individual pages. A few items listed are not type specimens, but books that show important typefaces in use.

N.B. Several of the St. Bride Library type specimens available at the Internet Archive have fold-out pages or inserted items which do not appear in the regular viewer or in the PDF downloads. To access them look for TIFF images in the download menu.

Warning: accurate dating of type specimens is notoriously complicated. The dates listed here come from the various institutions and organizations that have digitized them. In most cases they have not consulted with a type specialist and thus there are mistakes. Whenever I have noticed such a mistake or when one has been brought to my attention I have included that information here.


Index of Selected Punchcutters and Type Foundries
Austin, Richard—1789 and 1796 (2)
Bodoni, Giambattista—1771 and 1788 (3)
William Caslon [foundry]—1771, c.1780, 1785 (4), 1786, 1795 (2), 1796 (2), and 1798 (2)
Fell types—1786
Figgins, Vincent—1793
Fry, Edmund—1787 (3), 1788, and 1799 (2)
Fry, Joseph—1785 (3) and 1786
Fry & Steele—1795 and 1798 (2)
Gil, Géronimo—1787
Gillé, Joseph—1777 and 1778
Haas—1790 (2)
Imprenta Real—1799 (3)
Luce, Louis—1771
Pradell, Eudald—1793 and 1795
Rosart, Jacques François—1777 and 1779 (2)
Wilson, Alexander—1783, 1786, and 1789


1770

Letter-Proef der Dukkerye van C. Plaat te Haarlem
[Haarlem: 1770]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library

János Mihály Landerer
Specimen Characterum in Neo-Erecta Typorum Fusura Posonii apud Ioannem Michaelem Landerer Typographum Existentium
[Budapest: 1770]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[see Régi Hazai Nyomdák Mintakönyvei by Szentkúty Pál (Budapest: A Magyar Bibliophil Társaság Kiadása, 1940), p. 69]
[Blades p. 19]

Zu finden in Abguß / bey dem Schriftgiesser Becker, Franckfurt am Mäyn
Johann Becker
Frankfurt am Main: Becker, [1770]
Goethe Universität
Schriftprobensammlung Gustav Mori 1:38
type specimen sheet
[c.1925 facsimile]
[Mori 74]

Specimen Characterum Seu Typorum Latinorum Probatissimorum, Incondite Quidem, Sed Secundum Suas Tamen Differentias Propositum, Tam Ipsis Librorum Autoribus, […]
Johann Becker
Frankfurt am Main: Becker, [1770]
Goethe Universität
Schriftprobensammlung Gustav Mori 1:37
type specimen sheet
[c.1925 facsimile]
[Mori 72]

Épreuves des Caracteres de la Fonderie de Louis Vernange, Fondeur & Graveur de Caracteres d’Imprimerie
Lyon: [1770]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes one fold-out]

Groote Kanon Romein… from Letter-Proef der Dukkerye van C. Plaat te Haarlem [Haarlem: 1770]. Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.

Petit Canon Romain from Épreuves des Caracteres de la Fonderie de Louis Vernange, Fondeur & Graveur de Caracteres d’Imprimerie (Lyon: [1770]). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


c.1770

Gegenwärtige sogenannte Rösgen oder Zierrathen sind in Abguß bey Friedrich Wilhelm Schrötern Burger Schriftschneider und Schriftgiesser in Frankfurt am…
Frankfurt am Main: Friedrich Wilhelm Schröter [c.1770]
Goethe Universität
Schriftprobensammlung Gustav Mori 1:39
type specimen sheet
[Mori 84]

Gegenwärtige sogenannte Rösgen oder Zierrathen sind im Abguß zu Jena bey Johann Georg Gollnern Schriftgiesern daselbst zu bekommen
Jena: Johann Georg Gollner [c.1770]
Goethe Universität
Schriftprobensammlung Gustav Mori 1:7
type specimen sheet
[Mori 102]


1771

Louis Luce
Essai d’Une Nouvelle Typographie, Ornée de Vignettes, Fleurons, Trophées, Filets, Cadres & Cartels, inventés, dessinés & exécutés par L. Luce, Graveur du Roi, pour son Imprimerie Royale

Paris: Imprimerie de J. Barbou, 1771
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes 11 fold-outs]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 39]

Fregi e Majuscole Incise e Fuse da Giambattista Bodoni Direttore della Stamperia Reale
Parma: Stamperia Stessa [Reale], 1771
Internet Archive / St Bride Library

Fregi e Majuscole Incise e Fuse da Giambattista Bodoni Direttore della Stamperia Reale
Parma: Stamperia Stessa [Reale], 1771
Hathitrust
[Houghton Library (Harvard) facsimile]

Fregi e Majuscole Incise e Fuse da Giambattista Bodoni Direttore della Stamperia Reale
Parma: Stamperia Stessa [Reale], 1771
Harvard Digital Collections
[only the title page verso; additional specimens “bound in after p. 56 of this copy are 55 leaves of additional type-specimens, probably printed by Bodoni about 1783” are not part of the Houghton Library facsimile]

Alphabetum barmanum sev bomanum regni Avai finitimarumque regionum
Cristoforo Amaduzzi
Rome: Typis Sac. Congregationis de Propag. Fide, 1771
Hathitrust
[see image 51 and following pages]

Alphabetum veterum Etruscorum et nonnulla eorumdem monumenta
Cristoforo Amaduzzi
Rome: Typis Sac. Congregationis de Propag. Fide, 1771
Hathitrust
[see pp. 33, 36, and 37]

Alphabetum brammhanicum, sev, Indostanum universitatis Kasí
Cristoforo Amaduzzi
Rome: Typis Sac. Congregationis de Propag. Fide, 1771
Hathitrust
[this is more of a grammar than a type specimen]

Majuscole Ornate e Caratteri Moderni di Giambattista Bodoni
Parma: Stamperia Reale, 1771
Google Books

A Concise History of the Origin and Progress of Printing
Philip Luckombe
London: printed by W. Adlard and J. Browne for J. Johnson, 1771 
Hathitrust
[reissue of 1770 book by Luckombe with a change in title; pp. 133–168 contain “A Specimen of Printing Types, by William Caslon, Letter Founder, London” and p. 169 is a specimen of scripts by Thomas Cottrell]
[Blades p. 7]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 82]
[Mosley 50 and 90]

Lettere da Due Righe Ornate from Fregi e Majuscole Incise e Fuse da Giambattista Bodoni Direttore della Stamperia Reale (Parma: Stamperia Stessa [Reale], 1771). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1772

Specimen Charactervm Latinorvm Existentivm Apvd Wenceslavm Crabath
Prague: Johann Wenzel Crabath [Krabath] 1772
Goethe Universität
Schriftprobensammlung Gustav Mori 1:71
type specimen sheet
[Mori 165]


1773

Epreuves des Caracteres de la Fonderie de Joseph Gillé, Graveur & Fondeur des Caracteres de l’Imprimerie des Départemens de la Guerre, Marine & Affaires Étrangeres
Paris: 1773
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes 7 fold-outs]

Épreuves des Caracteres de la Fonderie de Joseph Gillé…
Paris: 1773
BnF Gallica

Vermeerdering van Meest Nieuw Gesnedene Letteren in de Haarlemsche Letter-Gietery van Johannes Enschedé Zedert 1768 tot 1773
[Haarlem: 1773]
Hathitrust

Les Caracteres et les Vignettes de la Fonderie Du Sieur Delacolonge
Lyon: 1773
Library of Congress
[Birrell & Garnett nos. 40 & 41]

Les Caracteres et les Vignettes de la Fonderie Du Sieur Delacolonge Capelin
Lyon: 1773
Google Books
[Birrell & Garnett nos. 40 & 41]

Louis Delacolonge
[Les Caracteres et les Vignettes de la Fonderie Du Sieur Delacolonge]
[Lyon: 1773]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[the cover and title page are missing]
[Birrell & Garnett nos. 40 & 41]

Joseph Jackson
[Specimen of Flowers]
[London: 1773]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Mosley 145 with date as 1773?]

No. XLIX / Trismégiste Romain from Epreuves des Caracteres de la Fonderie de Joseph Gillé, Graveur & Fondeur des Caracteres de l’Imprimerie des Départemens de la Guerre, Marine & Affaires Étrangeres (Paris: 1773). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1774

A Specimen of Printing Types by Tho. Cottrell, Letter-Founder, In Nevil’s-Court, Fetter-Lane, London
London: 1774
American Antiquarian Society
[one page missing from images]
[Mosley 90]

Schriften, Rösgen oder Ziraten und Linien, bey J.H. Prentzler Burger und Schriftgiesser
Frankfurt am Main: 1774
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[the title page has been handwritten as the original is missing]

No. 1 Kleine Missal Versalia zür druckschen Schreibschrift from Schriften, Rösgen oder Ziraten und Linien, bey J.H. Prentzler Burger und Schriftgiesser (Frankfurt am Main: 1774). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1776

Épreuves des Caractères de la Fonderie de J.L. Joannis, Fondeur & Graveur en Caractères d’Imprimerie
Paris: 1776
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library 

Deux Points de Petit Canon Romain and Deux Points de Petit Canon Italique from Épreuves des Caractères de la Fonderie de J.L. Joannis, Fondeur & Graveur en Caractères d’Imprimerie
(Paris: 1776). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1777

Épreuves des Caractères de la Fonderie de J.L. de Boubers
Brussels: 1777
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[with types cut by Joseph Gillé and Jacques François Rosart]

Nachricht von der Stempelschneiderey und Schriftgießerey…
J.G.I.B. [Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf]
Leipzig: 1777
Universität Bibliothek Heidelberg

Nachricht von der Stempelschneiderey und Schriftgiesserey…
J.G.I. Breitkopf
Leipzig: 1777
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

Civilité Corps de Gros-Romain cut by Jacques-François Rosart from Épreuves des Caractères de la Fonderie de J.L. de Boubers (Bruxelles: 1777). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1778

Caractères de la Fonderie de J. Gille, Graveur et Fondeur dur Roi pour Les Caractères de l’Imprimerie de la Loterie Royale de France, & autres
Paris: 1778
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes 15 fold-outs]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 43]


1779

Proef der Letteren die Gevonden Worden in die Boekdkukkerye [sic] van J. F. Rosart
Utrecht: 1779
Google Books

Epreuve des Caracteres de la Fonderie de la Veuve Decellier, Successeur de Jacques-François Rosart. Troisiéme Édition augmentée.
Brussels: 1779
Google Books

Épreuves des Caractères de la Fonderie de J. L. de Boubers
Brussels: 1779
BnF Gallica


c.1780–c.1785

A Specimen of Printing Types, by W. Caslon and Son, Letter-Founders, in London
London: T. Wright
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Berry & Johnson p. 20]
[Mosley 51 with date range c.1774–1778]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by W. Caslon and Son, Letter-Founders, in London
London: T. Wright
American Antiquarian Society
[only 6 images]
[Berry & Johnson p. 20]
[Mosley 51 with date range c.1774–1778]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by W. Caslon and Son, Letter-Founders, in London (London: T. Wright, n.d. [c.1780–1785]). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1781

Proeven van Letteren, Welke gegooten werden in de Lettergieterye van J. De Groot
‘s Gravenhage: 1781
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[these two entries look identical, including their annotations]

Épreuves des Caracteres de la Fonderie de Orell, Gessner, Fueslin & Compagnie
Zurich: 1781
e-rara

A Catalogue and Specimen of Sundry Printing Materials, Which Will be Sold at Auction by Mr. Patterson…
1781
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[this is not a type specimen; the catalogue is an inventory of the Edward Rowe Mores collection which included type specimens]
[Berry & Johnson pp. 91–92]

Proeven van Letteren, Welke gegooten werden in de Lettergieterye van J. De Groot (‘s Gravenhage: 1781). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.

Mittel Schwabacher from Épreuves des Caracteres de la Fonderie de Orell, Gessner, Fueslin & Compagnie (Zurich: 1781). Image from e-rara.


1783

Épreuves des caracteres de l’Imprimerie, Et autres choses nécessaires audit Art, qui se Trouvent Chez Henry Vaussy, Fondeur en Caracteres
Rouen: 1783
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library

A Specimen of Printing Types
Alexander Wilson & Sons
Glasgow: 1783
University of Missouri
type specimen sheet
[originally inserted into an unknown book “facing article Printing, method of.”]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 87]
[Berry & Johnson p. 53]
[Mosley 212]

A Specimen of Printing Types
Alexander Wilson & Sons
Glasgow: 1783
Wellcome Library
type specimen sheet
[originally inserted into an unknown book “facing article Printing, method of.”]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 87]
[Berry & Johnson p. 53]
[Mosley 212]

Lettres de Petit-canon from Épreuves des caracteres de l’Imprimerie, Et autres choses nécessaires audit Art, qui se Trouvent Chez Henry Vaussy, Fondeur en Caracteres (Rouen: 1783). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1785

A Specimen of Printing Types, by William Caslon, Letter-Founder to His Majesty
London: Galabin and Baker, 1785
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[the 1716 date listed online is incorrect]
[Blades p. 7]
[Berry & Johnson p. 19]
[Mosley 55]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by William Caslon, Letter-Founder to His Majesty
London: Galabin and Baker, 1785
Hathitrust
[Blades p. 7]
[Berry & Johnson p. 19]
[Mosley 55]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by William Caslon, Letter-Founder to His Majesty
London: Galabin and Baker, 1785
Internet Archive
[Blades p. 7]
[Berry & Johnson p. 19]
[Mosley 55]

A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, Letter-Founder to his Majesty
[London: 1785]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Blades p. 7]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 85]
[Mosley 55]

A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, Letter-Founder to his Majesty
[London: 1785]
Bibliothèques Patrimoniales / Bibliothèque Forney
[Blades p. 7]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 85]
[Mosley 55]

Eliz. Caslon’s New Canon [No. 1]
[1785]
NYPL Digital Collections
single sheet
[Mosley 59 with date range 1796–1799]

A Specimen of Printing Types, Made by Joseph Fry and Sons, Letter-Founders and Marking-instrument Makers, by the Kings Royal Letters Patent
London: 1785
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes 1 fold-out]
[Mosley 107]

A Specimen of Printing Types / Joseph Fry and Sons, Letter-Founders, Worship-Street, Moorfields
1785
London: 1785
Wellcome Library
type specimen sheet
[Birrell & Garnett no. 92]
[Berry & Johnson p. 40]
[Mosley 108]

A Specimen of Printing Types / Joseph Fry and Sons, Letter-Founders, Worship-Street, Moorfields
1785
London: 1785
Letterform Archive
type specimen sheet
[Birrell & Garnett no. 92]
[Berry & Johnson p. 40]
[Mosley 108]

A Specimen of Printing Types / Joseph Fry and Sons, Letter-Founders, Worship-Street, Moorfields
1785
London: 1785
Type Drawers
type specimen sheet
[Birrell & Garnett no. 92]
[Berry & Johnson p. 40]
[Mosley 108]

A Specimen of Printing Types, Made by Joseph Fry and Sons, Letter-Founders and Marking-instrument Makers, by the Kings Royal Letters Patent (London: 1785). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


c.1785

A Specimen of Printing Types by Tho. Cottrell, Letter-Founder, In Nevil’s-Court, Fetter-Lane, London
London: [1785?]
American Antiquarian Society
[Mosley 90]


1786

A Specimen of Cast Ornaments on a New Plan, by William Caslon, Letter-Founder to His Majesty
London: J.W. Galabin, 1786
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Mosley 58]

A Specimen of Printing Types Cast in the Letter Foundery of Alexander Wilson and Sons
Glasgow: 1786
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Mosley 213]

A Specimen of Printing Types Cast in the Letter Foundery of Alexander Wilson and Sons
Glasgow: 1786
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
[Mosley 213]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Joseph Fry and Sons, Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales
London: 1786
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Berry & Johnson p. 41]
[Mosley 109]

A Specimen of the Several Sorts of Printing-Types Belonging to the University of Oxford at the Clarendon Printing-House
[Oxford]: 1786
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes the Fell types]
[Mosley 177]

[Philippe-Denis Pierres]
Description d’Une Nouvelle Presse d’Imprimerie… par M. Pierres…
Paris: 1786
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes 1 fold-out]

French Canon and Italick from A Specimen of Printing Types Cast in the Letter Foundery of Alexander Wilson and Sons (Glasgow: 1786). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1787

To George, Prince of Wales, &c. This Specimen Is Dedicated with the Utmost Respect, by His Most faithful, and Obliged Friends, Edmund Fry & Co.
[1787]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[there is no cover or title page; probably extracted from The Printer’s Grammar by John Smith]
[Berry & Johnson p. 42]
[Mosley 110]

The Printer’s Grammar: Containing a Concise History of the Origin of Printing…
John Smith
London: Printed by L. Wayland, 1787
University of Nebraska—Lincoln Digital Commons
[see pp. 273–316 A Specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry and Co. Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales (London: 1787)]
[Mosley 111]

The Printer’s Grammar: Containing a Concise History of the Origin of Printing…
John Smith
London: Printed by L. Wayland, 1787
Google Books
[see pp. 286–329 A Specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry and Co. Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales (London: 1787)]
[Mosley 111]

A Specimen of Printing Types by John Baine & Grandson in Co., Letter-Founders
Edinburgh
Edinburgh: 1787
American Antiquarian Society
[3 images available]
[Blades p. 23]
[Mosley 5]

Proben der Schiften in der Breitkopfischen Schriftgießerey zu Leipzig
[Leipzig]: [Breitkopf], 1787
Universität Rostock

Muestras de los Nuevos Punzones y Matrices para la Letra de Imprenta…
[Madrid]: 1787
Biblioteca Digital Hispanica
[with types by Géronimo Gil]

Six Lines Pica from To George, Prince of Wales, &c. This Specimen Is Dedicated with the Utmost Respect, by His Most faithful, and Obliged Friends, Edmund Fry & Co. [1787]. Specimen probably extracted from The Printer’s Grammar: Containing a Concise History of the Origin of Printing… by John Smith (London: Printed by L. Wayland, 1787). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1788

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Edmund Fry and Co. Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales
London: 1788
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Berry & Johnson p. 43]
[Mosley 112]

Giambattista Bodoni
Serie de Maiuscole e Caratteri Cancellereschi
[Parma: 1788]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library

Giambattista Bodoni
Manuale Tipografico
[Parma: 1788]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[there is no cover or title page; see the note at front]
[Blades pp. 19–20]

Giambattista Bodoni
“100 / Saluzzo mia amata patria”
Harvard Digital Collections
[single page from Manuale Tipografico (Parma: 1788)]
[Blades pp. 19–20]

Numero 1 cut by Giambattista Bodoni from Serie de Maiuscole e Caratteri Cancellereschi [Parma: 1788]. Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1789

A Specimen of Printing Types Cast in the Letter Foundery of Alexander Wilson and Sons
Glasgow: 1789
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Blades p. 8]
[Berry & Johnson p. 54]
[Mosley 214]

A Specimen Of Printing Types: Cast At Bell & Stephenson’s Original British Letter Foundry…
London: 1789
Bodleian Libraries
[punches cut by Richard Austin]
[Berry & Johnson p. 59]
[Mosley 15]

Anzeige der Lettern u. Schriften, sammt derer Benennung, wie auch einiger Leisten, und Vignetten, welche sich bey mir Johann Baptist Rösl, kath. Buchdrucker zu Augsburg…
Augsburg: 1789
Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg

A Specimen Of Printing Types: Cast At Bell & Stephenson’s Original British Letter Foundry…  (London: 1789). Image from Bodleian Libraries.


1790

Enchantillons des Caracteres de l’Imprimerie Impériale
St. Petersburg: 1790
Internet Archive / St. bride Library
[includes 1 foldout dated 1796]

Epreuves des Caracteres d’Usage Ordinaire dans l’Imprimerie de la Fonderie de Guillaume Haas á Basle
Basel: 1790
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Birrell & Garnett nos. 66 & 67]

Epreuves des Caracteres d’Usage Ordinaire dans l’Imprimerie de la Fonderie de Guillaume Haas a Basle
Basel: 1790
Harvard Digital Collections
[Birrell & Garnett nos. 66 & 67]

Klein Missal Fractur and Grosse Missal Fractur from Epreuves des Caracteres d’Usage Ordinaire dans l’Imprimerie de la Fonderie de Guillaume Haas á Basle (Basle: 1790). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1793

Specimen of Printing Types, by Vincent Figgins, Letter-Founder, Swan Yard, Holborn Bridge, London
London: T. Bensley [1793]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Blades p. 9]
[Berry & Johnson p. 62]
[Mosley 92]

Muestras de los Grados de letras… Hijo de Pradell
Madrid: Oficina de Don Benito Cano, 1793
Biblioteca Digital Hispanica

Probe einer neuen Art Deutscher Lettern Erfunden und in Stahl geschnitten von J.F. [Johann Friedrich Gottlieb] Unger
Berlin: 1793
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

Probe einer neuen Art Deutscher Lettern Erfunden und in Stahl geschnitten von J.F. [Johann Friedrich Gottlieb] Unger
Berlin: 1793
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
A second copy.

Peticano cut by Eudald Pradell from Muestras de los Grados de letras… Hijo de Pradell (Madrid: Oficina de Don Benito Cano, 1793). Image from Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Biblioteca Digital Hispanica digitization is in black and white.


1794

Saggi dei Caratteri, Vignette e Fregi della Nuova Fonderia di Antonio Zatta e Figli Tipografi, Calcografi, e Libraij Veneti
Venice: 1794
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library

A Specimen of the Several Sorts of Printing Types Belonging to the University of Oxford…
[Oxford]: 1794
Google Books
[Mosley 178]


1795

A Specimen of Cast Ornaments, by Wm Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King
London: C. Whittingham, 1795
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Mosley 76]

A Specimen of Cast Ornaments, by Wm Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King
London: C. Whittingham, 1795
Internet Archive
[the specimen begins at image 140 within A Specimen of Printing Types, by Wm Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King (London: 1796)]
[Mosley 76]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Fry, Steele, and Co. Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales, Type-Street
London: T. Rickaby, 1795
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[includes 2 fold-outs]
[Blades p. 10]
[Berry & Johnson pp. 45–46]
[Mosley 120]

Muestras de los Caractéres que Tiene en su Obrador Pedro Ifern, Fundidor en Esta Corte
Madrid: Imprenta De Fermin Thadeo Villalpando, 1795
Biblioteca Digital Hispanica
[with typefaces by Eudald Pradell]


1796

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Wm. Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King
London: C. Whittingham, 1796
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[first copy]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 94]
[Berry & Johnson p. 25]
[Mosley 77]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Wm. Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King
London: C. Whittingham, 1796
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[second copy]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 94]
[Berry & Johnson p. 25]
[Mosley 77]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Wm Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King
London: Printed by C. Whittingham, 1796
Internet Archive
[includes A Specimen of Cast Ornaments, by Wm Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King (1795)]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 94]
[Berry & Johnson p. 25]
[Mosley 76 and 77]

First Part of a Specimen of Printing Types, Cast at the Foundry of S. & C. Stephenson, Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane
London: 1796
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[punches cut by R. Austin; includes 4 fold-outs]
[Berry & Johnson p. 60]
[Mosley 189]

A Specimen of Printing Types and Various Ornaments for the Embellishment of Press Work, by S. & C. Stephenson, British Foundry, London, Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane
London: Printed by A. MacPherson, 1796
Google Books
[punches cut by Richard Austin]
[The Printing Historical Society facsimile (1990)]
[Berry & Johnson p. 61]
[Mosley 190]
[Gray fig. 20]

Six Lines Pica Open cut by Richard Austin from First Part of a Specimen of Printing Types, Cast at the Foundry of S. & C. Stephenson, Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane (London: 1796). Image from Internet Archive / St. Bride Library.


1797

A Catalogue of the Stock in Trade… of the British Letter Foundry,… which Will be Sold by Auction on Nov. 27, 1797
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[at this point the British Letter Foundry had become the Foundry of S. and C. Stephenson]


1798 

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Fry, Steele, and Co. Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales, Type-Street
London: T. Rickaby, 1798
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Berry & Johnson p. 46]
[Mosley 121]

[Fry & Steele specimens of type]
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[there is no title page or cover; a pencil note indicates this was their first specimen book; includes 3 fold-outs]
[Mosley 121]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Wm. Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King
London: C. Whittingham, 1798
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Blades p. 22]
[Berry & Johnson p. 26]
[Mosley 78]

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Wm Caslon, Letter-Founder to the King
London: Printed by C. Whittingham, 1798
Internet Archive
[Blades p. 22]
[Berry & Johnson p. 26]
[Mosley 78]


1799

Muestras de los Punzones y Matrices de la Letra que se Funde en el Obrador de la Imprenta Real
Madrid: 1799
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library

Muestras de los Punzones y Matrices de la Letra que se Funde en el Obrador de la Imprenta Real
Madrid: 1799
Library of Congress

Muestras de los Punzones y Matrices de la Letra que se Funde en el Obrador de la Imprenta Real
Madrid: 1799
Google Books

A Specimen of Printing Types, by Fry, Steele, and Co. Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales, Type-Street
London: T. Rickaby, 1799
Internet Archive / St. Bride Library
[Berry & Johnson p. 46]
[Mosley 122]

Pantographia: Containing Accurate Copies of All the Known Alphabets in the World
Edmund Fry
1799
Hathitrust
[includes exotic types from the Edmund Fry & Co. foundry to illustrate some of the languages]
[Birrell & Garnett no. 93]

Schriftproben aus der neuen Buchdruckerei der Gebrüder Gädicke
Weimar: 1799
Harvard Digital Collections


References
Berry & Johnson = Catalogue of Specimens of Printing Types by English and Scottish Printers and Founders 1665–1830 compiled by W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson (London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1935).

Birrell & Garnett = Catalogue of Typefounders’ Specimens by Graham Pollard (London: Birrell & Garnett, Ltd., 1928) [part I of a catalogue in 3 parts]

Blades = Some Early Type Specimen Books of England, Holland, France, Italy, and Germany catalogued by William Blades (London: Reprinted from the “Printers’ Register”, 1875)

Type Specimen Facsimiles 1–15 = Type Specimen Facsimiles 1-15: Reproductions of Fifteen Type Specimen Sheets Issued between the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Edited by John Dreyfus (London: Bowes & Bowes and Putnam, 1963)

Type Specimen Facsimiles 16–18 =Type Specimen Facsimiles 2: [Nos. 16-18]: Reproductions of Christopher Plantin’s ‘Index sive specimen characterum’ 1567 & Folio Specimen of c.1585, together with the Le Bé-Moretus Specimen, c.1599 by Hendrik D.L. Vervliet and Harry Carter; edited by John Dreyfus (London: The Bodley Head, 1972)

Gray = Nineteenth Century Ornamented Types and Title Pages by Nicolete Gray (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976)

Mori = Schriftproben deutscher Schriftgiessereien und Buchdruckereien aus den Jahren 1479 bis 1840: ein Führer durch die Schriftproben-Ausstellung… by Gustav Mori (Frankfurt am Main: Verein Deutscher Schriftgiessereien, 1926)

Mosley = “The materials of typefounding: a list of surviving collections” by James Mosley in Printing History New Series no. 4 (July 2008)


Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Stephen Coles, Dan Reynolds, and John A. Lane for suggestions and comments regarding specimens included in this list; and to Bob Richardson and Alicia Chilcott of St. Bride Library for information about their digitized specimens.