A History of the Old English Letter Foundries / with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography. - Talbot Baines Reed

To Messrs. Enschedé and Sons, of Haarlem, my thanks are also specially due for giving me specimens of some of their most curious and ancient types.

It is also my pleasure, as well as my duty, to thank the Secretary of the American Antiquarian Society for information regarding specimens in his possession; my friend, Dr. Wright, of the British and Foreign Bible Society, for free access to the highly interesting Library under his care; Messrs. Tuer, Bremner, Gill, and others for the kind loan of Specimens; the Librarian of the London Institution for permission to facsimile portions of the rare specimen of James’ Foundry in that Library; and the numerous other friends, who, by reading proofs and in other ways, have generously assisted me in my labours.

I also take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Prætorius and Mr. Manning for the care they have bestowed on the preparation of facsimiles for this work; and of expressing my obligations to the officials of the British Museum and Record Office for their invariable courtesy on all occasions on which their assistance has been invoked.

LONDON, January 1st, 1887.

CONTENTS.

Introductory Chapter. THE TYPES AND TYPE FOUNDING OF THE FIRST PRINTERS		[1]
Chap. 1.	THE ENGLISH TYPE BODIES AND FACES	[31]
″ 2.	THE LEARNED, FOREIGN AND PECULIAR CHARACTERS	[57]
″ 3.	THE PRINTER LETTER-FOUNDERS, FROM CAXTON TO DAY	[83]
″ 4.	LETTER FOUNDING AS AN ENGLISH MECHANICAL TRADE	[102]
″ 5.	THE STATE CONTROL OF ENGLISH LETTER FOUNDING	[123]
″ 6.	THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY FOUNDRY	[137]
″ 7.	THE STAR CHAMBER FOUNDERS, AND THE LONDON POLYGLOT	[164]
″ 8.	JOSEPH MOXON	[180]
″ 9.	THE LATER FOUNDERS OF THE 17TH CENTURY	[193]
″10.	THOMAS AND JOHN JAMES	[212]
″11.	WILLIAM CASLON	[232]
″12.	ALEXANDER WILSON	[257]
″13.	JOHN BASKERVILLE	[268]
″14.	THOMAS COTTRELL	[288]
″15.	JOSEPH AND EDMUND FRY	[298]
″16.	JOSEPH JACKSON	[315]
″17.	WILLIAM MARTIN	[330]
″18.	VINCENT FIGGINS	[335]
″19.	THE MINOR FOUNDERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY	[345]
″20.	WILLIAM MILLER	[355]
″21.	THE MINOR FOUNDERS FROM 1800 TO 1830	[357]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

[1].—Types cast from leaden matrices, circ. 1500 . . . 16
[2].—Specimen illustrating the variations in the face of type, produced by bad casting . . . 18
[3].—Type mould of Claude Garamond. Paris, 1540. From Duverger . . . 23
[4].—Profile tracings from M. Claudin’s 15th century types . . . 21
[5].—A 15th century type. From M. Madden’s Lettres d’un Bibliographe . . . 24
[6].—A 15th century type. From Liber de Laudibus...Mariæ, circ. 1468 . . . 24
[7].—Roman letter. From the Sophologium, Wiedenbach? 1465–70? . . . 42
[8].—Roman and Black letter intermixed. From Traheron’s Exposition of St. John, 1552 . . . 45
[9].—Robijn Italic, cut by Chr. van Dijk. From the original matrices . . . 52
[10].—Gothic Type or Lettre de Forme, circ. 1480. From the original matrices . . . 53
[11].—Philosophie Flamand engraved by Fleischman, 1743. From the original matrices . . . 54
[12].—Lettre de Civilité, cut by Ameet Tavernier for Plantin, circ. 1570. From the original matrices . . . 56
[13].—Blooming Initials. Oxford, circ. 1700 . . . 80
[14].—Pierced Initial. Oxford, ante 1700 . . . 81
[15].—Caxton’s Advertisement, in his Type 3 . . . face 88
[16].—Caxton’s Type 4.* From the Golden Legend . . . face 88
[17].—Black letter, supposed to be De Worde’s. From Palmer’s History of Printing . . . 90
[18].—Pynson’s Roman letter. From the Oratio in Pace Nuperrimâ, 1518 . . . 92
[18a].—Berthelet’s Black letter and Secretary type. From the Boke named the Governour, 1531 . . . 95
[19].—Portrait of John Day, 1562. From Peter Martir’s Commentaries, 1568 . . . 99
[20], [21], [22].—Day’s Saxon, Roman, and Italic. From the Ælfredi Res Gestæ, 1574 . . . face 96
[23].—Letter Founding in Frankfort in 1568. From Jost Amman’s Stände und Handwerker . . . 104
[24].—Letter Founding and Printing circ. 1548. From the Harleian MSS. . . . 105
[25].—Letter Founding in 1683. From Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises . . . 109
[26].—Letter Founding in France in 1718. From Thiboust’s Typographiæ Excellentia . . . 115
[27].—Colophon of the Lyndewode, Oxford, n.d. Showing types [c], [d], [e], [f] . . . face 138
[28].—Greek fount of the Eton Chrysostom, 1613 . . . face 140
[29].—Greeks, Roman and Italic. From the Catena on Job, 1637 . . . face 140
[30].—The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. From an old wood-block . . . 153
[31].—The Clarendon Press, Oxford. From an old wood-block . . . 156
[32].—Pica Roman and Italic, presented to Oxford by Dr. Fell, 1667 . . . 152
[33].—Pica Roman and Italic, bought by Oxford University in 1692 . . . 152
[34, 35, 36, 37, 38].—Hebrew, large and small, Coptic, Arabic, and Syriac, presented to Oxford by Dr. Fell, 1667. From the original matrices . . . 147
[39].—Ethiopic, bought by Oxford University in 1692. From the original matrices . . . 154
[40].—Ethiopic of Walton’s Polyglot, 1657. From the original matrices . . . 174
[41].—Syriac of Walton’s Polyglot, 1657. From the original matrices . . . 174
[42].—Samaritan of Walton’s Polyglot, 1657. From the original matrices . . . 174
[43].—Specimen of Nicholas Nicholls, 1665. From the original . . . face 178
[44].—Portrait of Joseph Moxon. From the Tutor to Astronomy and Geography, 4th ed., 1686, . . . face 180
[45].—Moxon’s Irish type, 1680. From the original matrices . . . 189
[46].—Dutch Initial Letters. From the original matrices . . . 80
[47].—Nonpareil Rabbinical Hebrew in Andrews’ Foundry. From the original matrices . . . 194
[48].—Saxon, cut by R. Andrews for Miss Elstob’s Grammar, 1715. From the original matrices . . . 196
[49].—Old Dutch Blacks in R. Andrews’ Foundry. From the original matrices . . . 194
[50].—Alexandrian Greek in Grover’s Foundry. From the Catalogue of James’ Sale, 1782 . . . 200
[51].—Scriptorial in Grover’s Foundry. From the original matrices . . . 204
[52].—Court Hand in Grover’s Foundry. From the original matrices . . . 204
[53].—Union Pearl in Grover’s Foundry. From the original matrices . . . 204
[54].—Walpergen’s Music type. Oxford, circ. 1675. From the original matrices . . . 208
[55].—Pictorial pierced Initial. From an 18th century newspaper . . . 81
[56].—Title-page of the Catalogue and Specimen of James’ Foundry, 1782. From the original . . . 226
[57].—Portrait of William Caslon. From Hansard . . . face 232
[58].—View of the Interior of Caslon’s Foundry in 1750. From the Universal Magazine . . . Frontispiece
[59].—Pica Roman and Italic, cut by Caslon, 1720. From the original matrices . . . 236
[60].—Black letter, cut by Caslon. From the original matrices . . . 239
[61].—Arabic, cut by Caslon, 1720. From the original matrices . . . 235
[62].—Coptic, cut by Caslon, ante 1731. From the original matrices . . . 236
[63].—Armenian, cut by Caslon, ante 1736. From the original matrices . . . 239
[64].—Etruscan, cut by Caslon, 1738. From the original matrices . . . 240
[65].—Gothic, cut by Caslon, ante 1734. From the original matrices . . . 239
[66].—Ethiopic, cut by Caslon. From the original matrices . . . 240
[67].—Syriac, cut by Caslon II, circ. 1768. From the original matrices . . . 246
[68].—Portrait of Alexander Wilson. From Hansard . . . face 258
[69].—Greek, cut by Alex. Wilson, ante 1768. From the Glasgow Homer, 1768 . . . 262
[70].—Portrait of John Baskerville. From Hansard . . . face 268
[71].—Greek, cut by Baskerville for Oxford. From the Oxford Specimen, 1768–70 . . . face 274
[72].—Roman and Italic, cut by Baskerville, 1758. From the Milton, Birmingham, 1758 . . . face 276
[73].—Engrossing, cut by Cottrell, circ. 1768. From the original matrices . . . 289
[73a].—Silhouette Portraits of Joseph and Edmund Fry. From the originals . . . face 298
[74].—Alexandrian Greek (formerly Grover’s), rejustified by Dr. Fry. From the original matrices . . . 304
[74a].—Hebrew, cut by Dr. Fry, circ. 1785. From the original matrices . . . 304
[75].—Portrait of Joseph Jackson. From Nichols’ Literary Anecdotes . . . face 316
[76].—Portrait of William Caslon III. From Hansard . . . face 326
[77].—Two-line English Roman, cut by Vincent Figgins, 1792. From the original matrices . . . 337
[78].—Samaritan, cut by Dummers for Caslon, circ. 1734. From the original matrices . . . 345