Fann Street Foundry

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Charles Reed's office at 33 Aldersgate Street Charles Reed Victorian Shop.jpg
Charles Reed's office at 33 Aldersgate Street

The Fann Street Foundry was a type foundry (a company that designs or distributes typefaces) located on Fann Street, City of London.

Contents

Establishment

In 1794, Robert Thorne (1754-1820) acquired the type foundry of the late Thomas Cottrell based in Nevil's Court, and moved it to 11 Barbican, and then in 1802 to a former brewery in Fann Street, and renamed it the Fann Street Foundry. On his death in 1820, the business was bought by William Thorowgood with the help of money he had won in a lottery. [1] [2] Thorowgood was the first to use the term "Grotesque" to describe a Sans-Serif typeface and to design one in lowercase with his Seven Line Grotesque. [3]

Nineteenth-century heyday

In 1838, the typographer Robert Besley was taken into partnership by William Thorowgood at the Fann Street Foundry. [1] He created Clarendon in 1845, the first typeface registered under the Ornamental Designs Act of 1842, and retired from the business in 1861, becoming Lord Mayor of London in 1869. [4] [2] [5]

In 1842, Charles Reed co-founded the firm of Tyler & Reed, printers and typefounders. He became a partner in the Fann Street Foundry in 1861 (which after that became known as Reed & Fox). The Fann Street business formed the basis for his own typefounding business, Sir Charles Reed & Sons, which had an office at 33 Aldersgate Street. [6] [7]

In 1881, following his father's death, the author and typefounder, Talbot Baines Reed, became head of the Fann Street Foundry. [8] By then, he had begun his monumental History of the Old English Letter Foundries, published in 1887, which was hailed as the standard work on the subject. Talbot Baines Reed died in 1893, aged only 41. [9]

Closure

Fann Street Foundry closed in 1906, after which its designs passed to the Sheffield-based Stephenson Blake. [10] Founded in 1818, Stephenson Blake was the last active type foundry in the UK at its closure in 2005. [11]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reverse-contrast typefaces</span> Kind of typeface or custom lettering

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miller & Richard</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grotesque (Stephenson Blake typefaces)</span> Family of sans-serif typefaces

The Stephenson Blake Grotesque fonts are a series of sans-serif typefaces created by the type foundry Stephenson Blake of Sheffield, England, mostly around the beginning of the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fat face</span> Style of display typeface and lettering

In typography, a fat face letterform is a serif typeface or piece of lettering in the Didone or modern style with an extremely bold design. Fat face typefaces appeared in London around 1805–1810 and became widely popular; John Lewis describes the fat face as "the first real display typeface."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caslon Type Foundry</span> English type foundry, founded c. 1720

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References

  1. 1 2 Macmillan, Neil. (2006). An AZ of type designers. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 171–2. ISBN   9780300111514.
  2. 1 2 Lawson, Alexander S. (1990). Anatomy of a Typeface. Jaffrey, New Hampshire: David R. Godine. p. 314. ISBN   978-0-87923-333-4.
  3. The First Sans Serif Graphic Design History, 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  4. Anthony Camp, On the city's edge: a history of Fann Street (2016) 24-31.
  5. besley & copp's Lord Mayor of London Archived 2014-07-25 at the Wayback Machine Besley & Copp Print Solutions, 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  6. Thomas Cottrell, later Fann Street Foundry circuitousroot.com, 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  7. G.C. Boase, "Reed, Sir Charles (1819–1881)", rev. M.C. Curthoys, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2014. (subscription required)
  8. Talbot Baines Reed On Snot and Fonts, Luc Devroye, 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  9. Jeffrey Richards, "Reed, Talbot Baines (1852–1893)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2014. (subscription required)
  10. "Fann Street Foundry". My Fonts. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  11. Stephenson, Blake British Letterpress. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

Further reading

51°31′19″N0°05′49″W / 51.522°N 0.0969°W / 51.522; -0.0969