Rusher's Patent Types

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Rusher 1856 lithograph.jpg
Rusher 1802 engraving.jpg
An 1856 lithograph [1] and 1802 engraving [2] reproducing the drawing in Rusher's patent filing. [lower-alpha 1]

Rusher's Patent Types were the characters of an experimental serif typeface invented, patented and promoted by Philip Rusher in Banbury, England, from 1802 onwards. [lower-alpha 2] The typeface removed the descenders from the lower-case letters and shortened the ascenders, which Rusher hoped would make the typeface "more uniform" and save paper. The typeface was used for a few books but did not become popular.

Contents

Patent

Rusher patented the design on 20 May 1802, stating that by his invention "the letters will occupy less room...each line may be placed immediately under the body of the preceding line, and thus a great part of the paper...may be saved, or spaces may be placed between the lines to extend them to the usual distance asunder. In either case the printing will appear more uniform and beautiful". [2] [1] Rusher's patent showed a design for the roman or upright style, and for an italic apparently never manufactured as metal type. [2]

Rusher gave his occupation as bankers' clerk in the patent; [2] he became manager of the town's Old Bank. [4] [5] However, his brother William Rusher, originally a schoolmaster, had become a bookseller and stationer in the town by 1785, [4] became parish clerk in 1795 and reached a prominent position in the town as a printer of directories and guides to reading and arithmetic. [6] [7] [8] [5] [9] William Rusher's son John Golby Rusher would become a long-lived and successful publisher who continued to sell books in the town for over three decades, particularly known for his books of nursery rhymes which were distributed nationally. [4] [10] [11] [12] [13]

An 1802 review of patents in The Monthly Magazine expressed interest: "although the alterations in several of the letters...do not appear necessary, yet we cannot help thinking that his plan...would add greatly to the beauty of fine printing; and it is obvious that most of the characters already in use might still be employed in the business, consequently the expence in adopting this invention could not be very great." [14] The patent was also reported in Germany [15] [16] and later in the Netherlands. [17]

Rasselas

Page 61 of Philip Rusher's edition of Rasselas. This section uses a small cap 'g' at the start of words. Rusher Rasselas 1804 edition page 61.jpg
Page 61 of Philip Rusher's edition of Rasselas. This section uses a small cap 'g' at the start of words.

Rusher commissioned custom metal type characters, or sorts, from the Caslon Type Foundry in London, to adapt a 14-point size type they sold. [lower-alpha 3] According to Frederic Goudy, in 1894 the punches used to create the type were rediscovered by the foundry during a stock check. Rusher's characters were only the lower-case b d f h k l g j p y characters and fi ff ligatures; [3] [lower-alpha 4] as The Monthly Magazine had predicted, the originals were used for the other letters. A small capital was used for the q, although Rusher's patent shows a cursive form (and alternative cursive forms for the ascending characters with forward-facing serifs, not used in the type as made). [2] The reduction in the height of the ascenders increases the apparent x-height relative to the ascending characters.

The type adapted was a modern face or Didone type, a style of typeface which had recently become popular and would remain the standard typeface for general-purpose printing for the whole of the nineteenth century. [18] [lower-alpha 5]

As a first use for his "new mode of printing", in 1804 Rusher published an edition of Rasselas , a novel by Samuel Johnson which was popular at the time. [20] It was printed by Cheney (later Cheney & Sons), a local firm of printers in Banbury, [21] and advertised as sold by three booksellers in London and a relative, J. Rusher, in Reading. [22] A copy at the University of Oxford advertises that "since part of the book was printed, it will be seen that a material improvement has been made in the legibility of the new letters." [23] The form of the 'g' varies, in Goudy's view reflecting a change in editing policy midway through the printing process: in some places the sort used is always the lower-case form with no descender, in others a small cap character was used at the beginning of words. [3] Goudy also thought the patented characters were altered after part of the book was printed by slimming them down. [3] Edwin Pearson, who wrote a history of children's books printed in Banbury in 1890, had information that sales of the book had grossed £5 5s. [10]

Retrospective reviews of the type have not been favourable. In the nineteenth century Charles Henry Timperley felt that the improved types were "any thing but what the preamble of the patent would have us believe" [24] and Bigmore and Wyman considered it "about as ugly a specimen of typography as can be conceived". [25] Goudy thought that the design was hampered by bad execution: "little care had been taken to give to his new forms the same weight of stems as in the face into which they were interpolated". [3] Alastair Johnston felt that the type is "anything but uniform and beautiful" and that the new characters felt particularly uncomfortable in the word Egypt, where a large part of the novel is set: "that word, with its three descending letters in an awkward huddle, pops up frequently." [26]

Later history

A few more uses were made of the type. The book advertised a forthcoming edition of The Deserted Village in the type, and the Cheney ledger suggested it was apparently printed, [4] but no copy has been found. [25] [5] [lower-alpha 6] Philip Rusher made another try with a pamphlet, The Farmer's Friend in 1817, [5] and his nephew John Golby Rusher used the type in 1852 for another book, A Complete Guide to the Mystery and Management of Bees by William White. [12] [4] The typeface after this again remained unused. [25]

Philip Rusher's nephew John Golby Rusher became a successful publisher in Banbury for many years, often printing nursery rhymes such as Old Mother Hubbard and Jack and Jill. This 1840 book does not use Rusher's types. Old Mother Hubbard and her dog (1840) (14593216808).jpg
Philip Rusher's nephew John Golby Rusher became a successful publisher in Banbury for many years, often printing nursery rhymes such as Old Mother Hubbard and Jack and Jill . This 1840 book does not use Rusher's types.

According an 1894 article on the type in Caslon's Circular, the news magazine of the Caslon foundry, from when the punches were rediscovered, "whether this patent type gave rise to the practice or not, we cannot tell, but very many of the best fonts issued at the present day can be supplied on various bodies for which special ascending and descending sorts have been engraved, but to do away with descenders entirely...has never been since attempted". [4] [lower-alpha 7]

The punches were advertised for sale on eBay in February 2021; they had apparently ended up owned by Cheney & Sons, the firm which had printed the book, before it closed. They were acquired by St Bride Library. [30]

See also

Notes

  1. The original patent filing has not been viewed as part of writing this article. It is not known which of these is a more accurate reproduction of Rusher's drawing.
  2. The plural "Patent Types" is the title on the book, but as described below it appears only one typeface in one size was ever made. [3]
  3. The type used was described as their English No. 1 typeface. "English" was the traditional name used at the time for any 14pt type; it does not make any comment about the type's design or other characteristics.
  4. Goudy does not state a source for his information. An 1894 article of Caslon's Circular, the Caslon Foundry's news magazine, cited by Cheney's corporate history but which could not be viewed for writing this article, may have been his source; see below. [4] Goudy does not list an 'fl' ligature, but it seems one was made, since it appears in the text (see photo) and was normal in fonts of the period.
  5. The Caslon foundry had in the previous decade added modern-face types to their stock for the first time, which were first cut by John Isaac Drury. [19] [18]
  6. For comparison, quite a large number of the Rasselas are known: copies exist at the British Library, [22] Oxford, [23] St Bride Library, formerly owned by William Blades, [4] San Francisco Public Library, [26] and one was also owned by Goudy. [3] As of 2021, copies on AbeBooks retailed for around $275. [27]
  7. Since this was written, a few display typefaces in the Latin alphabet have appeared with descenders removed: the Art Nouveau Hobo [28] and Permanent Headline. James Millington also created letterforms with neither ascenders nor descenders, but this was less of a serious proposal. [26] [28] Libé, later Media Sans, the headline face of Libération has very short descenders. [29] Spelling of quote modernised to avoid confusion; "fount" was the usual spelling at the time.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sans-serif</span> Typeface classification for letterforms without serifs

In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than serif typefaces. They are often used to convey simplicity and modernity or minimalism. For the purposes of type classification, sans-serif designs are usually divided into these major groups: § Grotesque and § Neo-grotesque, § Geometric, § Humanist and § Other or mixed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typeface</span> Set of characters that share common design features

A typeface is a design of letters, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size, weight, slope, width, and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long s</span> Archaic form of the Latin-script letter s (ſ)

The long sſ, also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaic form of the lowercase letter ⟨s⟩, found mostly in works of the late 8th to early 19th centuries. It replaced the single s, or one or both of the letters s in a double-s sequence. The modern ⟨s⟩ letterform is known as the "short", "terminal", or "round" s. In typography, the long s is known as a type of swash letter, commonly referred to as a "swash s". The long s is the basis of the first half of the grapheme of the German alphabet ligature letter ⟨ß⟩,. As with other letters, the long s may have a variant appearance depending on typeface: ſ, ſ, ſ, ſ.

In typography and handwriting, a descender is the portion of a letter that extends below the baseline of a font.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type foundry</span> Company that designs typefaces (fonts)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caslon</span> Typeface with serifs

Caslon is the name given to serif typefaces designed by William Caslon I (c. 1692–1766) in London, or inspired by his work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Didone (typography)</span> Classification of serif typefaces

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarendon (typeface)</span> Slab serif typeface

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goudy Old Style</span> Serif typeface

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennerley Old Style</span>

Kennerley Old Style is a serif typeface designed by Frederic Goudy. Kennerley is an "old-style" serif design, loosely influenced by Italian and Dutch printing traditions of the Renaissance and early modern period. It was named for New York publisher Mitchell Kennerley, who advanced Goudy money to complete the design. While Goudy had already designed 18 other typefaces, it was one of Goudy's most successful early designs in his own style. The regular or roman style was designed in 1911, the italic in 1918; bold styles followed in 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cochin (typeface)</span> Serif typeface

Cochin is a serif typeface. It was originally produced in 1912 by Georges Peignot for the Paris foundry G. Peignot et Fils and was based on the copperplate engravings of 18th century French artist Charles-Nicolas Cochin, from which the typeface also takes its name. The font has a small x-height with long ascenders. Georges Peignot also created the design 'Nicolas-Cochin' as a looser variation in the same style.

<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">Caslon Egyptian</span>

Egyptian is a typeface created by the Caslon foundry of Salisbury Square, London around or probably slightly before 1816, that is the first general-purpose sans-serif typeface in the Latin alphabet known to have been created.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Style (Miller & Richard)</span>

Old Style or Modernised Old Style was the name given to a series of serif typefaces cut from the mid-nineteenth century and sold by the type foundry Miller & Richard, of Edinburgh in Scotland. It was a standard typeface in Britain for literary and prestigious printing in the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, with many derivatives and copies released.

<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

The Caslon type foundry was a type foundry in London which cast and sold metal type. It was founded by the punchcutter and typefounder William Caslon I, probably in 1720. For most of its history it was based at Chiswell Street, Islington, was the oldest type foundry in London, and the most prestigious.

References

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