Mad, Bad (but Good to Know): A survey of type specimens offline and online
Sonoma Plaza (Bear Flag Republic) from Historia: A Type Specimen (Berkeley, California: Emigre Fonts, 2010), pp. 20–21. Design by Rudy VanderLans.
Mad, Bad (but Good to Know): A survey of type specimens offline and online
Type@Cooper
13 February 2023
This is a list of the type specimens included in my Type@Cooper talk. Those that have been digitized and available online are marked in red. Where multiple digitized versions of specimens exist I have chosen either the one with the best visual quality or one that has a unique feature.
Who issued type specimens?
A Specimen of Printing Type Cast in the Letter Foundery of Alexander Wilson and Sons (1786)
A Specimen of the Types Used by B. Bensley, Printer (1830)
Specimens of Types, Borders, Cuts, Rules, and Other Printing Materials…| Curtis & Mitchell (c.1875)
A Specimen by John Baskerville of Birmingham (1854)
Specimens of the type face known as Cheltenham printed on Eastern’s Atlantic Bond (1948)
Format & Size
Indicis characterum… Erhard Ratdolt (1486)
A Specimen of Types Designed & Sold by Frederic W. Goudy (1921)
Lushus: Artistic Printing | FUSE Fonts (1991)
Index Sive Specimen Characterum Christophori Plantini (1567)
New Specimen of Printing Types, from the Fann-Street Letter Foundry (1825)
Cyclopædia: or, a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences vol. II (1750)
[Note: The Caslon foundry specimen is folded in after the entry for Letter.]
Die so nöthig als nützliche Buchdruckerkunst und Schriftgießerey… by Christian Friedrich Geßner (1740)
[Includes Schrift-Probe Oder Kurzes Verzeichniß… Herrn Bernhard Cristoph Breitkopfs Schriftgießerey allhier befindlich sind 1739 which begins at p. 145]
The Printers’ Guide; or, an Introduction to the Art of Printing by C.S. Van Winkle (1818)
[Includes specimens from the foundries of D. & G. Bruce and E. White at the back.]
Serie di Maiuscole e Caratteri Cancellereschi | Giambattista Bodoni (1788)
Manuale Tipografico del Cavaliere Giambattista Bodoni 2 vols. (1818)
Specimen Book Linotype Faces | Mergenthaler Linotype (1939)
Spécimen Générale des Fonderies Deberny et Peignot 2 vols. (1935)
FontBook: Digital Typeface Compendium (4th ed.) | FontShop International (2006)
1st. Supplement to the Abridged Specimen of Fonts of Type… from Bruce’s New-York Type-Foundry (1867)
1ère et 2ieme (réunis) Feuille des Lettres d’Affiches de la Fonderie Laurent et Deberny (1837)
Grasset | Fonderie G. Peignot & Fils (1898)
Deberny & Peignot présentent Univers (1960)
Trinité 1, 2, 3 | Autologic SA (1982)
City: Eine neue Schrift der H. Berthold AG (1930)
Gill Sans 262 | Monotype Corporation (1966)
Die Neue Haas Grotesk | Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei (1960)
ATF Alphabets | American Type Founders (c.1961)
Innes Alphabets for Advertising Display | The National Display Alphabet Co. (1929)
House Industries Typography Catalog (1995)
The Monotype Recorder Special Issue Describing The Times New Roman Type (1932)
ITC Cheltenham | U&lc vol. 5, no. 3 (September 1978)
Semainier Typographique | Fonderie Turlot (1889)
Livre pour une Petite Fille bien sage par Jules Didot ainé (1824)
Historia: A Type Specimen | Emigre (2010)
Sans Serif and Other Experimental Inscribed Lettering of the Early Renaissance | LetterPerfect (1996)
Emblems and Electra | Mergenthaler Linotype (1935)
Wood | Morgan Press (1964)
Seule une lettre n’est rien | Deberny & Peignot (1929)
Read naked | Underware (2002)
Type Specimen No. 10 | Typotheque (2014)
Parachute Font Guide (2021)
Now read this: The Microsoft ClearType Font Collection (2004)
Color
Nesbitt’s Fourth Specimen of Machinery Cut Wood Type… George F. Nesbitt (1841)
Specimens of Chromatic Wood Type Borders, &c. | W.H. Page & Co. (1874)
Specimens of Printing Types… | L. Johnson & Co. (1857)
Specimens of Printing Types, etc. | Bruce’s New-York Type-Foundry (1853)
S. Berthier Spécimen Fonderie en Caractères, Machines a Imprimer (1885)
Stop | Società Nebiolo (1971)
Content
Specimen Charactervm Sev Typorvm… | Conrad Berner (1592)
A Specimen of Printing Types by Joseph Fry and Sons, Letter-Founders (1786)
Manuel Typographique vol. II by Pierre Simon Fournier le jeune (1766)
Specimen of Printing Types Cast by Geo. Bruce & Co. (1848)
American Line Type Book | American Type Founders Co. (1906)
Épreuves des Caractères de la Fonderie de J.L. De Boubers (1777)
ITC Zapf Dingbats from U&lc vol. 5, no. 2 | International Typeface Corporation (1978)
Manuel Typographique vol. II by Pierre Simon Fournier le jeune (1766)
Die Zerde Gezeichnet von F.H. Ernst Schneidler | J.G. Schelter & Giesecke (1913)
Compact Book of Specimens | MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan (1892)
Bower & Bacon’s Improved Specimen of Printing Types (1830)
Gesamt-Probe der Schriftgiesserei Julius Klinkhardt (1883)
Spécimen de Caractères | Fonderie S. Berthier & Durey (1895)
Proef van Letteren… Lettergietery van J. Enschedé (1768)
Specimen of Printing Types and Metal Ornaments from the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry (1832)
Specimens of Type faces, Stock Cuts, Initials, Logotypes, Etc. | John Polhemus Printing Co. (1895)
Specimens of Printing Type Made at Bruce’s New-York Type-Foundry (1882)
Specimen Book and Catalogue | American Type Founders Company (1923)
S. Berthier Spécimen Fonderie en Caractères, Machines a Imprimer (1885)
Neutraface House Industries Catalog No. 31 (2002)
Other Content
Thorowgood’s New Specimens | Fann Street Foundry (1834)
A Specimen of Printing Types, by William Caslon, Letter-Founder to His Majesty (1785)
The Nubian: A New Fashion in Types | American Type Founders Company (1928)
The Manual of Linotype Typography | Mergenthaler Linotype Company (1923)
Specimen Book and Catalogue | American Type Founders Company (1923)
Claude Garamont: Graveur et Fondeur de Lettres | M. Ollière & Cie. (1914)
Probe einer neuen Art Deutscher Lettern | J.F. Unger (1793)
Spécimen des Nouveaux Caractères de la Fonderie et de l’Imprimerie de P. Didot l’Ainé (1819)
Caledonia: A New Printing Type | Mergenthaler Linotype Company (1939)
Futura 1.| Bauersche Gießerei (1927)
Reference Book of James Hedderwick & Son, Printers (1823)
Mrs. Eaves: A Typeface Designed by Zuzana Licko Based on the Design of Baskerville | Emigre (1996)
Chalet | House Industries (2000)
Specimen Book and Catalog | Inland Type Foundry (1907)
Flinsch’s Punkt Schmuck | Schrifgießerei Flinsch (1910)
Patriz Huber Ornamente | J.G. Schelter & Giesecke (1906)
Bauer Beton | The Bauer Type Foundry, Inc. (1937)
Legende | Bauersche Gießserei (1937)
Specimen texts
Epreuves des Caracteres… | Fonderie de Guillaume Haas (1790)
Specimen of Modern Printing Types, of Edmund Fry, Letter Founder to the King (1824)
Specimen Sheets from the Boston Type Foundry (1856)
An Abridged Specimen of Fonts of Type | Bruce’s New-York Type-Foundry (1865)
Dolmen Gezeichnet von Max Salzmann | J.G. Schelter & Giesecke Schriftgießerei (1923)
Eleventh Book of Specimens of Printing Types | MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan (1885)
Muestrario de Tipos, Máquinas y Útiles… | Angel Estrada (1883)
Saggi dei Caratteri, Vignette e Fregi | Antonio Zatta (1794)
Specimen of Printing Types Made at Bruce’s New-York Type-Foundry (1882)
Specimens of Old Style Types | Miller & Richard (c.1868)
The General Book of the Dickinson Type Foundry [Phelps & Dalton] (Boston) (1856)
Page 29 from Livre pour une Petite Fille bien sage, imprimé par Jules Didot ainé, en trente caractères… (Paris: Nepveu, 1824).
Q&A addendum
Google Books
Imprimerie de Corbaz et Rouiller fils, Spécimen (1855)
Hathitrust
Muestras de los caractéres de letras que se hallan en la imprenta, de Roque Gallifa, Zaragoza (1830)
Internet Archive
Specimen of Printing Types, by Vincent Figgins, Letter-Founder, Swan Yard, Holborn Bridge, London [1793]
BnF Gallica
Fonderie Générale de Caractères Français & Étrangers [Beaudoire & Cie.] (1909)
Bibliothèque Forney
Caractères en Bois | Bonnet & Cie. (1860)
Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin
Ferd. Theinhardt Schriftgiesserei (c.1897–1912)
RIT Digital Collections
Specimen of Printing Types and Ornaments | Robb & Ecklin (1836)
University of Wisconsin at Madison (Silver Buckle Press Collection)
Woodtype: Selective Emphasis for Fine Typography by Hamilton (1960)
Letterform Archive
Bifur | Deberny & Peignot (1929)
Deutsche National Bibliothek (Leipzig) (Nachlass Jan Tschichold)
Werbeprospekt der Transito (1930)
Leben und Bedeutung des Schriftschneiders Jakob Sabon (1967)
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