Type foundry

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The German coat of arms for a type-founders' guild (or "Schriftgiesser" in German) Wappen der Schriftgiesser.jpg
The German coat of arms for a type-founders' guild (or "Schriftgießer" in German)

A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monotype, for letterpress printers. Today's digital type foundries accumulate and distribute typefaces (typically as digitized fonts) created by type designers, who may either be freelancers operating their own independent foundry, or employed by a foundry. Type foundries may also provide custom type design services.

Contents

England

In England, type foundries began in 1476, when William Caxton introduced the printing press, importing at least some of the type that he used in printing. [1] Until William Caslon (1692–1766), English type generally had a poor reputation so the best type was imported from Holland. [1]

Only after Caslon had established his Caslon foundry in Chiswell Street, did the City of London become a major centre for the industry, until the end of the 20th century when famous metal-based printing districts such as Fleet Street came to the close of their era. The industry was particularly important in Victorian times, when education became available to all due to the new school boards, and firms such as Charles Reed & Sons, the printer and type founders were in their heyday. The St Bride Printing Library in the City of London encourages wider public interest in the history of type founding for the printed book and newspaper.

Modern corporations

Large form

Independent

Defunct

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monotype Imaging</span> American typesetting and typeface design company

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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.

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Didone is a genre of serif typeface that emerged in the late 18th century and was the standard style of general-purpose printing during the 19th century. It is characterized by:

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Clarendon is the name of a slab serif typeface that was released in 1845 by Thorowgood and Co. of London, a letter foundry often known as the Fann Street Foundry. The original Clarendon design is credited to Robert Besley, a partner in the foundry, and was originally engraved by punchcutter Benjamin Fox, who may also have contributed to its design. Many copies, adaptations and revivals have been released, becoming almost an entire genre of type design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janson</span> Typeface

Janson is the name given to a set of old-style serif typefaces from the Dutch Baroque period, and modern revivals from the twentieth century. Janson is a crisp, relatively high-contrast serif design, most popular for body text.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baskerville</span> Transitional serif typeface designed in the 1750s

Baskerville is a serif typeface designed in the 1750s by John Baskerville (1706–1775) in Birmingham, England, and cut into metal by punchcutter John Handy. Baskerville is classified as a transitional typeface, intended as a refinement of what are now called old-style typefaces of the period, especially those of his most eminent contemporary, William Caslon.

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Didot is a group of typefaces. The word/name Didot came from the famous French printing and type producing Didot family. The classification is known as modern, or Didone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plantin (typeface)</span> Typeface

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Century type family</span> Typeface

Century is a family of serif type faces particularly intended for body text. The family originates from a first design, Century Roman, cut by American Type Founders designer Linn Boyd Benton in 1894 for master printer Theodore Low De Vinne, for use in The Century Magazine. ATF rapidly expanded it into a very large family, first by Linn Boyd, and later by his son Morris.

Memphis is a slab-serif typeface designed by Dr. Rudolf Wolf and released in 1929 by the Stempel Type Foundry.

<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">Ehrhardt (typeface)</span> Font

Ehrhardt is an old-style serif typeface released by the British branch of the Monotype Corporation in 1938. Ehrhardt is a modern adaptation of printing types of "stout Dutch character" from the Dutch Baroque tradition sold by the Ehrhardt foundry in Leipzig. These were cut by the Hungarian-Transylvanian pastor and punchcutter Miklós (Nicholas) Tótfalusi Kis while in Amsterdam in the period from 1680 to 1689.

<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

  1. 1 2 "Industries: Printing | British History Online". british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  2. "Monotype Announces the Acquisition of Iconic Type Foundry Hoefler&Co". Monotype. 2021-09-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-05. Retrieved 2021-11-05.