Printing type: Sources of Digital and Metal for Type
[[Digital
Type links] [Metal Type Links/Sources]Letterpress printing links] [Miscellaneous Type]
No one in the first half of the twentieth century could have
imagined the burgeoning interest in type, typefaces and type design
that we found in the 1990s and early twenty-first century. Before the
advent of computers with digital "fonts," who--besides printers,
bibliographers and designers--knew what a "point" or "leading" was?
With computer word processing programs that allowed users to set their
typefaces,we now find people with more
sophisticated knowledge of type, but digital, not metal type. The
tremendous growth in the number of available typefaces owes a lot to
advertising and the wish to be noticed. Many people
active today in printing and graphic design are often unaware of photo
fonts of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s--much of which was lost.
I'm primarily interested in letterforms, design and letterpress
applications for metal and digital type. That interest is reflected in
these links.
Metal Type Sources
Metal type is usually classed as "foundry" (traditionally cast in
hard metals and
intended for handsetting and reuse) or "hot metal" (usually cast on a
Monotype machine and traditionally melted down after printing for
reuse), based on casting method. Metal type is cast by hand, by machine
on
a specialized caster (like a Barth--see Dale Guild), or by a machine
intended to set type for printing (like a Monotype caster). A number of
Monotype founders make their type harder for re-use in hand setting.
(Many printers--both professional and hobbyist--purchase monotype types
for handsetting often for faces only available now onthe
Monotype like Centaur or Bembo.) My list purposely omits people
who cast
lines of type such as Linotype or Ludlow machines.
For buying type, the following instructions from a Kelsey catalog, are still quite useful:
How to save money on type
Count the number of capital A's and small a's in the work you are going
to do, or are likely to do. Then, after you have decided on the style
and size, check the number of A's and a's in the type style you propose
to buy. [....]
Regular (and medium) fonts are always carried and sold only as one
complete package, bu the large fonts are separated into packages of
caps, small letters (called lower case) and figures, so if you find you
need more of one than the other, you can order separate packages. Or you
may have a job which requires a lot of figures. Figure fonts contain,
roughly, about the same number of 1's as Cap A's in the ap fonts, about
10% more 0's and about 20% less of the figures from 2 to 9 and the $
sign.
[Kelsey Co., Printers' Supply Book , (edition) no. 75T, inside back cover.]
- Metal Type
from US Foundries (useful but far from complete list on the website
of the AAPA Association of Amateur Printers of America).
- Briar Press has a Directory
of Type Foundries
which has an excellent list of current type founders in the US and UK
and fairly decent for the rest of English-speaking world. There are a
number of founders here without web sites. Among those listed whom I
would recommend or have used personally (in alphabetical order):
- Dale Guild Foundry
(link to Briar Press entry) (Briar Press directory
entry)
(Howell, NJ). Proprietor Theo Rehak and designer Alan Waring have
attempted to keep alive the traditions of ATF (Theo apprenticed at
ATF). Beautiful foundry type.
Costly, but worth every penny. Recommended. (Most DG fonts now distributed by NA Graphics, Silverton, CO)
- M & H
Type (the old McKenzie & Harris, now part of the Grabhorn
Institute/Arion Press). (Briar Press directory
entry)(San Francisco, CA). Monotype type for handsetting and page composition. Has more
type designs than Bixler. I have not used.
- Michael & Winifred
Bixler (Skaneateles NY). The renowned Bixler makes excellent
Monotype type for handsetting and page composition. Recommended.
- Golgonooza Foundry and Press. (Designer Julia Ferrari
and Punchcutter Dan Carr) (New Hampshire). Golgonooza Letter Foundry
& Press, P O Box 111, Ashuelot, NH 03441. Phone: (603)239-6830
- Sterling Type Foundry
website (Briar Press (directory
entry)
(Indianapolis, IN). Good ornaments and a nice selection of 20th C
logotypes. Borders and fluerons in back of the catalog. Manager Dave
Churchman also sells used printing equipment at good prices.
Recommended, although Dave does more distributing than casting.
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My most current links
on printing, letterpress and history of the book are on the Links page of the American Printing History
Association, where the links are general and (in my opinion) useful,
even if the shrubbery has grown too dense for quick browsing.
More focused is the the American Amateur Press Association's resources on graphic
arts. For digital faces, the Typophiles forum has an Open
Directory project, listing most anything you'd want to know about
typefaces. For particular faces the following digital foundries are
helpful:
- APHA's Links page (offsite, maintained by
me) on letterpress printing and type. While not complete, the links are
useful and do provide entry to more comprehensive sites.
- Briar Press Directory has
a fairly complete list of current type founders in the US and UK and
fairly decent for the rest of English-speaking world. There are a
number of founders here without web sites. Also recommended for its
classifieds. (Maintained by Elizabeth Nevin of the Briar Press.)
- A Short
Bibliography of Typography and Allied Subjects. Excellent annotated
bibliography on type, typography, printing history, practical printing,
book arts and dealers, especially geared towards practitioners. Also
has an excellent comprehensive Introduction to Letterpress
Printing. (Maintained by David S. Rose of Five Roses Press.)
- ATF Font scheme (JPG file) (Uploaded by Fritz Klinke/NA Graphics)
Fritz wrote 8/2/07 in a Letpress posting: "I use the basic ATF font "scheme" that they used for the last
30 or so years before they went under in 1993. We have offered a
half font in a recent casting of ATF Bulmer and that sold well.
They would vary the character count to fill out complete lines,
but were pretty close to their predetermined schemes. ATF went a little
heavy on the punctuation, so I modify that, and I think they
didn't offer enough cap B, so I up that count a little. The size
of the font was determined by the type face--a wide set width
face, like Craw Clarendon, had a much smaller a count than narrow
set width, so not all 12 pt type was sold in
the same scheme, though except for scripts, etc, ATF did have one
price per size. Theo Rehak's view on this, being an ex-ATF
employee, is that over the years, they averaged things out and
made basic decisions on amount of metal in a font versus number of
characters--and that leads to Theo's position that ATF considered
itself selling metal as opposed to type. Fonting way back 100
years included weight fonts, book fonts, and job fonts. See http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1184/987682500_e4478f806d_b.jpg for ATF's last fonting schemes.
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Are you trying to identify a typeface in a commercial campaign? Check MyFont's WhatTheFont
Don't neglect the excellent list created by Gerald Lange of the
Bieler Press as part of the private PPLetterpress
listserv website (Yahoo Registration required)--excellent for
learning how to use digital type on photopolymer plates for relief
printing.
- The
Bruce Type Foundry: Commentary by Luc Devroye of McGill University.
Delightful essay on the Bruce foundry of New York, a successor firm to
Binny & Ronaldson. Scans from an 1869 catalog slow down the page.
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Contact Paul Romaine.
